Sanctuary
by Lady Destiny
Summary: fini(AU kind of) Kagome is turning 18 and everything kagome knows of is beginning to change. (sesskag)
1. Separated

****

Sanctuary

Summary: Kagome Higurashi thought of herself as a normal human teen, that is until she fell into that well in her grandpa's shrine and was cursed to travel back and forth from the past to collect shards of a jewel that she accidentally broke! Anyway, things couldn't be much worse, and as things were looking great... catastrophe strikes! She finds out that she has been living a lie! What could be worse? Now, in order to figure out who she is, she has to be civil to one of the youkais who tried to kill her! Oh what is a girl to do?

Author's Note: For those of you who read my original 'Sanctuary'... Gomen Na Sai! I am so sorry! I just couldn't think of how to continue... I lost the inspiration... so I hope this will turn out better! Now as I said: THIS IS THE ONE I WILL NEVER DELETE!!! **promise**

Disclaimer's Note: I do not own InuYasha, its characters, or its plot... I only own the story I write and I hope you guys will enjoy it! Have fun!

=================================

Kagome barely had enough sleep but she felt vibrant and hyper. Her hair blew past her fast as a cool breeze swept across the meadows. The sun was just rising above the horizon, and she leaning on a tree to fully enjoy the serene scene that was before her.

She closed her eyes and listened to everything around her. In a few months she would be 18. Back in her time, turning 18 was the highlight of someone's life. That meant that they were now considered adults and were responsible for being one. Kagome twirled a lock of her hair and calmly listened to a sound of a little girl giggling.

'Giggling?'

Kagome's blue-gray eyes opened sharply and started scanning the vast meadow for the origin of the laughter. Her gaze fell upon a small girl who looked about the age of 6. She had short black hair tied up in a small ponytail and was dressed up in an elegant kimono. Though she looked a bit muddy, Kagome recognized the little girl and thought back to where she might have seen her.

Suddenly, she gasped and whispered: " SesshouMaru…" She began to panic. She had strayed far from the camp and was close to the little girl who traveled with InuYasha's half-brother. ' I knew this was a bad idea…'

Without thinking twice, she stood up and looked around. Her mood then darkened even more as she tried vainly to remember where she had come from. ' Oh no! I'm lost!'

" Konnichiwa!"

Kagome turned around and looked at the little girl that was in the meadow. She smiled half-heartedly and knelt in front of her.

" Hello…"

The little girl smiled and gave her a white flower. " I'm Rin, who are you?"

" I'm Kagome… um, do you think you could help me?" Kagome said smiling at her. 

Rin shook her head. " SesshouMaru-sama is out pat-pat-patrolling and left Rin with Jakken… Rin is not allowed to go away far-father than this…"

Kagome sighed dejectedly and smiled at the little girl. " That's okay Rin-chan… I'm sure I can make my way from here… Thank you anyway."

Rin flashed Kagome a toothy grin. " you're welcome! Come back and play with Rin sometime, okay, Kagome-neechan?"

Kagome nodded and started to walk away, when she saw the gray clouds moving fast. ' Great… it's gonna rain… knowing that toad Jakken, he wont care about Rin…' She turned around and was surprised to find Rin still watching her.

" Um, Rin, it's going to rain soon, maybe I should walk you towards SesshouMaru-sama's place before you get soaked okay?" Kagome said sweetly. ' He may be scary, but this little girl seems very attached to him…'

Rin jumped up and down with excitement as she pulled Kagome behind her and ran towards SesshouMaru's fortress.

===================================

InuYasha cursed silently as the group trudged on. Kagome didn't return from her 'walk' and he began to get worried. Ever since Kagome had been getting nightmares she had insisted on being alone in the mornings to watch the sun rise. He didn't care before, but then again, she always returned before.

" Can you smell her yet?" Shippou asked. 

InuYasha shook his head. Shippou had become attached to Kagome during the past year. Kagome had only come to Shengoku Jirai a year and a half ago, when she had turned 16. Shippou had joined shortly after a few months and had been used to Kagome and thought of her as his mother since. Although Kagome was not youkai, Shippou felt a strong bond with her.

InuYasha however used to tease Kagome and wondered why she never adopted Shippou in youkai terms yet. ' She doesn't know Youkai laws, stupid!' 

" Hey, isn't this you're brother's-"

"HALF brother, and yes, Miroku, it is!" InuYasha growled as Miroku was about to ask. 

Shippou became worried. Kagome was alone inside SesshouMaru's forest and did not have a single form of protection on her. Not her arrows… not even her bag. ' Oh… Kagome… please be safe'

=============================

Kagome and Rin reached the fortress before rain poured and Jakken was nowhere to be found. 

" Come on, Kagome-neechan! It's wet out here!" Rin said.

Kagome shook her head softly. " I can't Rin. I have to get back. I just wanted to escort you here so that you wouldn't get wet!"

Rin nodded and Kagome waved goodbye. As she walked on, a small barrier prevented her from leaving. ' What the-?' She felt it with the hands and sensed strong magic at work. ' SesshouMaru' 

'Great… I'm stuck!'

Suddenly, she felt a chill go down her spine and her body became warm. With a sudden burst of light, she was behind the barrier sprawled on her stomach. ' Huh? Oh well… might as well go before the rain stops covering my scent'

=========================

Author's Note: its… boring… so far…. Sigh… I hope the next chapter is better!


	2. Enter Kouga

****

Sanctuary

Author's note: Hey guys! I revised the story remember? So here's another chapter so that it can make a little bit of sense!

Disclaimer's note: I still dunno why we have to put these considering that fanfiction.net clearly states that we do not own any of these stories and are just people who like to write different 'episodes' because we love it so much…but anyway, I do not own InuYasha. I do not own it! …unfortunately… ^-^ fortunately, Rumiko Takahashi is one of the most talented people around!

===========================

She ran faster as the rain fell harder and the winds grew colder, making the raindrops feel like needles being shoved into her skin. Kagome trembled as she slowly became numb and could no longer feel her knees.

'I must find shelter! I must find-'

Before her vision blurred even more, she found a small hut just a few meters ahead. Without thinking, she rushed on ahead and knocked on the door. She waited before knocking again, only to find the door swinging open. Rushing inside, she found the hut was not lived in, nor was it used, at least for a long time. There was a small collection of wood at the far corner of the tiny hut, as well as a few web covered blankets.

Saying a prayer of thanks to whomever lived here before, she made a fire and stripped her school uniform off and hung them to dry, leaving only her undergarments on.

Taking the blankets and brushing the cobwebs away, she warmed herself up and sat down in front of the fire. ' I wonder how the rest of the gang are doing?'

======================

Shippou paced impatiently inside the dirty cave. The rain had washed off Kagome's scent and had left nothing to go on. Sango insisted on finding shelter while InuYasha could only growl in defeat.

" When is the rain going to stop?" Shippou whined. " I wanna find Kagome now!"

Sango felt badly for the kit. Shippou had been orphaned and Kagome was the only family that Shippou had. Not even Sango nor Miroku nor even InuYasha was considered family to Shippou. No, to him, Kagome was his adoptive mother, though she had not adopted him in youkai terms… yet.

Miroku was tired and weary. He had a perfect opportunity to grope Sango, but chose not to. The mood was tense and he did not want to add more tension by having an argument with Sango.

" The rain should let up soon." InuYasha stated " It should not be more that a few hours. We can still find her by dusk"

============================

Kagome stared at the fire and marveled at how it crackled. For some reason, it called to her. As if there was some hidden secret it wanted to share. For a brief moment, Kagome saw herself playing in a field of green, laughing carelessly and running freely. She had stared at the castle that was behind her and the magnificent couple that stood before the castle walls.

__

Kagome

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of the wind. The sound of rain had ceased and she could see the sunlight that came through the cracks of the doorway. She checked her uniform and found they had dried nicely. They didn't smell like the softener that she had used but smelled like summer rain. 

Carefully, she folded the blanket and placed them on the corner. She quickly dressed and put out the fire. She checked her bearings with the 'trick' her grandpa had taught her about being in the wilderness.

__

Check to see where the wind is blowing. If its warm, it came from the south, if its cold, it came up north

Kagome licked her index finger and lifted it to feel which way the wind blew. It was warm and soft and was blowing northward. She checked the sun to make sure she was right. Her wristwatch said it was about 2 in the afternoon, so the sun would be where west was. Smiling at herself for her small accomplishment, she went on towards the east, hoping to end up at Kaede-sama's village.

After an hour or so of walking, she noticed a familiar aura coming closer towards her. She was about to panic trying to find some sort of weapon to protect herself with, until she felt who it was.

" Kagome!"

She turned around and smiled. " Kouga-kun!"

============================

Kouga smiled at his luck. He had gone for a stroll to find rumors about the Shikkon no Tama and bumped into his beloved. Though she was human, Kagome was very… special to him. Somehow, he felt something in her.

" What are you doing here?" she asked.

" I was taking a stroll… what are you doing? And without that mutt no less!" Kouga said.

Kagome chuckled. " We got separated and when it rained, I guess my scent just dissappeared."

Kouga nodded and twitched his tail in thought. " Yes, I guess that would make it harder for that hanyou to find you… Maybe I should walk with you, just in case you get into any trouble!" he offered.

Kagome smiled in appreciation. " I would love that! Considering I forgot my bow and arrows."

Kouga flashed her another simle and they quickly walked westward. For some reason, he felt peaceful and calm around Kagome, unlike his usual worried self. Being the leader of the north-western pack, he was usually worried about the safety of his men, and being the son of Lord Kazutoshi of the North Western Lands.

He looked over to her and gasped inwardly as her hair blew past her shoulders. ' imouto-chan?'

Kouga clenched his hands at his side and tried to control himself from crying. Seeing Kagome walking quietly beside him triggered his memory of his long dead sister, who was presumed dead for almost half a century. 'Why now? Of all the times to remember her… why now?'

__

Youkai and ningen battle

Kouga held his imouto closer to his chest. His tail wrapped protectively around her. Sounds of battle was so loud it nearly deafened him. The eerie glow of the burning castle shone behind him, and the small camp that they were in was quickly piling up with injured people.

Kouga marveled at his father's form. He had transformed into his youkai form, dazzling people with his arctic wolf-like body. His pure white mane was now caked with mud and blood, and his white tail dragged on the mud as he licked his wounds. He switched back into his ningen form and scanned the area with his bluish gray eyes. His usually snow-white hair was clumped together and his armor was broken. He was favoring his left leg and was clutching his broken arm.

" 'Niichan?"

Kouga looked down at his half sister and saw pure fear in her eyes. His heart twisted in pain and swore to himself that he would make sure that fear would never be in her beautiful blue gray eyes again.

" yes, imouto?"

"Where's mama?"

His blood ran cold. He quickly looked over to the tent just ahead. His little sister's mother, the regal inuyoukai miko who had valiantly protected them both from harm was lying in a small tent unconscious and bleeding. He didn't know what to tell her. Ayame-okaasan, was the one person who took him as her own after his own mother died.

Lady Rei, his biological mother had died of childbirth so many years ago. After Lady Ayame and his father settled in, he was weary of her, and afraid that she would turn out to become mean and unfair. Much to his surprise, Lady Ayame turned out better than he had expected. Like lady Rei, she was truly a gentle woman, and true to her name, was as sweet and lovely as an iris.

"Kouga-kun?"

Kouga snapped out of his reverie and was face to face with a worried Kagome. ' Imouto… What was her name? It had been so long since I said it… I barely remember it anymore'

" Kouga?" Kagome said waving her arms in front of his face. He got another far away look and she decided to take action. Without another word, she pulled his furry brown and white tail causing him to yelp in pain.

" Huh?!" Kouga took his tail and petted it until he barely felt the twinge of pain. " What was that for?"

Kagome giggled and shrugged. " Nothing. Come on! We have to get to Kaede-baba's village before it gets dark! Mom, Souta and Jii-chan might get worried if I don't get home soon!"

==========================

InuYasha stopped walking and sniffed the air. He growled suddenly, causing Kirara 

to stop. Sango and Miroku stopped arguing and watched wearily as InuYasha unsheathed the Tetsusaiga.

" InuYasha? What is it?" Shippou asked cautiously.

"SesshoMaru"

==========================

Author's Note: bum bum bum! Oooooo. Lol. Sorry for making it short! And I know that Sesshie didn't come yet… but he will! Don't worry! 


	3. SesshouMaru

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Hopefully, this chappie will be a nice addition to the story! ^-^. By the way! For those of you who read/ have read my other fic: Chibi Mamoru (Sailor Moon) it's almost complete! I almost feel sad that it is though…

Disclaimer's Note: Hey! No matter how many times I wish I owned InuYasha and co. I don't. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SesshouMaru flew gracefully through his half brother's forest. His silver locks blew past as he ran quickly in youkai speed, with only one thought in his head: his father's fang.

'I must acquire the Tetsusaiga immediately'

He slowed down a bit once he smelled a certain scent. It was old, but it gave him comfort. It smelled of lavender and lilacs, and reminded him of his mother. He stopped on his tracks and decided to walk to where it was the strongest.

Surprisingly, his nose had led him to an old well not far from the hanyou's forest. He didn't recognize the scent before, it being so faint, but now, as it gently wrapped itself around his senses, he remembered his brother's companion, the woman that looked much like his old flame, Kikyo.

'Kikyo? No… that girl… her name was… unique'

He stopped. He stopped thinking and he stopped moving. He was disgusted with himself. He had thought of a lowly ningen as unique! But then again, he thought Rin was unique. She gave life to the fortress. No matter how much he denied it, she gave it life. She gave him life. But something was missing.

SesshouMaru chuckled softly as he thought. He had considered Rin his daughter. His daughter gave the fortress life. She brightened every corner of the fortress… save two. His face darkened as he thought of whom they had belonged to.

He quickly dashed back to his fortress and stealthily crept into one of the two mentioned. It was beautifully decorated and smelled of lavender and lilacs. The scent was old, but even though they had not been used in over half a century, her scent still lingered on. A faint scent of meadows mingled with lavender and lilac. It was her personality.

His father had once told him that a person's personality takes on a different scent than that of their physical attributes. Everyone had their own scent as well as their own personalities, and that is how you can distinguish whose scent is who.

SesshouMaru sat down on her bed and took the garment that was laid on it. He had the servants lay her clothes there, just in case she might return. Lady Yumemaru, his mother, had been lost and declared dead almost 60 years ago. A wave of bitterness washed over SesshouMaru as he remembered the reason why she had left in the first place…

__

A young SesshouMaru ran happily through the gardens without a care in the world. Suddenly, he is stopped dead in his tracks by the sound of his mother crying. He ignored his instinct to run and hug her to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Yume… don't do this… you and I both knew this was going to happen sooner or later…"

SesshouMaru couldn't understand. His father, InuTaisho was hovering over his mate and looking at her with pity and guilt.

"I…I don't know why… but I fell in love with you…"

He saw a flash of guilt and shame on InuTaisho's face.

" I'm sorry Yume, you were my best friend… but… I needed a full youkai heir… and… Leiko… she's my life mate"

'No…no!'

SesshouMaru was young, but he knew of life. A life mate was someone you were to be with for the rest of your life… and nothing would be able to change that.

" You may do as you wish, Yume… but the pup stays with me. He is the next in line as Lord of the Western Lands"

Being careful not to wrinkle the soft garment, he laid it softly back on the bed. He recalled the last thing she had said before she left. _Don't let your pride blind you from your heart_. He hadn't known what it meant back then, still didn't. 

He gracefully walked towards another room, which Rin did not have the permission to run into. It was an unused guestroom reserved for his future mate.

He went inside and noted that his mother had been here as well. ' No doubt when that hanyou's ningen mother was here!'

InuYasha's mother had intruded in his family's life and ruined any chance of a future for his own mother. Yumemaru was the envy and talk of anyone in Japan. She was the most beautiful and most graceful youkai ever to have graced this earth. She had a kind soul that most women did not posses.

Especially not that _ningen_. SesshouMaru knew that Leiko was just after his father's land. He knew that she was just like every other female in the country who hounded over power. But InuTaisho was too blind to see what was happening. Before SesshouMaru could warn him… he was sent to an academy for training. By the time he came back, his mother had delved into depression and was stripped of her title. And _Lady_ Leiko, was with pup.

SesshouMaru was half surprised that he could not smell Leiko's scent in the room. Not even a faint clue that she was even there. ' The master chambers'

He cautiously walked towards the ivory doors. InuTaisho's room was the farthest room from the hall and was the opposite of his mother's. It was strictly off limits to anyone and everyone. Only the servants who made sure everything was clean were the only ones to have seen the magnificent room.

He pushed the doors open and was amazed at the beauty of the room. As he stepped in, he was bombarded with his father's scent as well as InuYasha's mother's scent tangled together. SesshouMaru sneered as he stepped outside and slammed the doors closed. He wished his curiosity did not lead him to anger. He then went on with his original plan and pursued his half brother.

He stopped just before he stepped through the barrier. After InuTaisho had ceased to exist, the barrier that he had placed no longer worked, therefore, SesshouMaru himself had to place one in its stead. But there was something there, the same scent he had smelled at the well. Only, it was stronger, as if InuYasha's wench had been there recently.

'That would be impossible. No ningen or youkai other than Jaken or Rin are allowed to pass through. They would have been demolished instantly…'

Forgetting his hanyou brother once more, he followed the sweet scent of lavender and lilacs.

=======================

Author's Note: Strange. Again. Oh well… more to come!

Glossary: (I forgot to post one before!)

Ningen: human

Imouto: little sister

Hanyou: half breed

Miko: priestess

Youkai: demon


	4. My Mother's Necklace

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Hopefully, this chappie will be a nice addition to the story! ^-^. By the way! For those of you who read/ have read my other fic: Chibi Mamoru (Sailor Moon) it's almost complete! I almost feel sad that it is though…

Disclaimer's Note: Hey! No matter how many times I wish I owned InuYasha and co. I don't. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagome could feel that they were close. She saw the faint purple light emanating from a green patch a few miles from where she was standing. Kouga had asked her to remain there until he returned, which would most likely be in a few hours. Before they had stopped, a small wolf youkai had dashed towards them with an important message from Kouga's father.

'I never even knew that Kouga had a father…'

Without warning, her miko senses kicked in. Something with a youkai aura was coming at an incredible speed. And knowing that InuYasha could never reach that speed unless someone or something was taken, she immediately went into defensive mode.

She eyed everything around her that she could use as a weapon. 'Damn that Kouga! He forgot to give me something to protect myself with!'

She heard rustling and was prepared to throw a rock, when a red tailed fox popped from behind the bushes. She lowered her guard, not sensing anything bad about it. The fox came towards her and she gasped slightly as its true height was revealed. This was a kitsune, a fox pup, but it was the size of a full-grown horse.

" Kagome! I was looking for you everywhere! I finally found you!" it said in a familiar childish voice.

Kagome backed up a little, surprised in hearing it talk. Then, it shrunk slowly and with a puff of smoke, the fox pup transformed into Shippou!

" Shippou!" Kagome said happily as she hugged him. Her heart felt lighter as if she was a mother that was reunited with its child. ' You are you baka!' Kagome giggled inwardly as she thought of herself as Shippou's mother.

" How did you get here?" Shippou finally asked. " The last place where we smelled your scent was at some hut, but then, you were gone again… Then…"

Kagome noticed Shippou's expression. " What happened? I didn't mean to stray from the camp… but I got lost and Kouga found me… but he had to go back to his father."

Shippou's eyes widened in surprise as Kagome mentioned Kouga having a father. " Well, we got caught in the rain, and had to stay at some cave, then as we were going to go, InuYasha smelled SesshouMaru… After that, Sango and Miroku stayed with him and InuYasha told me to go find you…"

Kagome smiled at her pup. 'My pup? Where did that come from?' She dismissed it and went on listening to the young kitsune. 

Oblivious to them both, SesshouMaru was hiding behind a few trees just a few meters from them. He had an expressionless façade on, but inwardly, his curiosity was getting the best of him. He had known of his half brother's woman travelling with a youkai pup, but he had not known that she was indeed raising it as if it were her own.

'Interesting'

SesshouMaru was about to reveal himself, when he sensed another youkai approaching. From previous encounters, SesshouMaru had known it was best to sit back and see the scene before ignorantly making himself vulnerable.

" Kagome!"

He eyed the new youkai intently. He knew who this was, but had somehow forgotten his name. He was the son of the North-Western lord, but what was he doing here without his army?

"Kouga-kun!"

SesshouMaru noticed how the kit suddenly became protective of its mother. He grinned as he remembered how he used to act that way when his mother was still beside him. 'Grrr… that wench! It's her fault! InuYasha's woman is to blame for my memories coming back!' He shook it off and watched.

====================

Kouga eyed the small kitsune that stepped in front of Kagome and smiled whole-heartedly.

" What's a kid like you doing here?" he asked.

" Stay away you!" Shippou said

Kagome giggled and caught all three males' attention. " Come now, Shippou, Kouga-kun doesn't mean any harm… he helped me through this whole ordeal. Now… I say we all head to Kaede-baba's village!"

Shippou smiled and nodded happily as he climbed Kagome and sat on her shoulder. Kouga smiled inwardly and followed. As they went along their way, SesshouMaru noticed something fall from Kagome's neck and fall on the grass. It teased him as it twinkled, reflecting the sun's rays.

'What is this?'

He lifted the small chain with his index finger and let it fall into his left palm. He examined the small green pendant that seemed so familiar to him. 

__

The North Western lands was being attacked and his father as well as his mother had been asked to help. The North Western Lord was his father's closest ally and they were best friends.

__

SesshouMaru was ordered to stay at home and stay with his half brother. He sneered at the thought and disobeyed. He didn't want to be anywhere in the castle left alone with the hanyou and his mother.

__

He easily followed his parent's trail and was led to a burning castle. He walked through the camp and was not surprised to see a young girl only a few years younger than he was. She had beautiful blue gray eyes and long black hair, but her face was tear stained and pain and confusion was clearly written on her face.

__

" What's wrong?" SesshouMaru asked.

"My mama just died… my onii-san is in the tent with her… I-I cant go back in there!" she said. 

SesshouMaru was surprised at her response. Most Youkais did not bother to show emotion, but this little girl did not seem to care about what other youkais did. Not knowing why, he remembered the necklace his mother had given him. It held great meaning to him. She had told him that if he ever needed comfort, he could always clasp on this pendant and she would always be near.

He took the necklace off his neck and placed it around the little girls'. She had stopped crying and looked at him questioningly. 

"This was my mothers' she gave it to me just last week. It gave me comfort when I was sad… I want you to have it"

SesshouMaru was confused with his actions. He had barely known the girl, not even her name, but he gave away his most valued posession to her. But the look on her face was better than anything he had ever received. Sadness was no longer coming from her. She rose and hugged him.

"Thank you. I will keep it forever"

SesshouMaru looked at the pendant once more. 'It can't be… that little girl was a youkai… she…' He stopped. This was his mother's pendant, the same one that he gave to a little girl who became the one person who kept him sane after his mother had left. Somehow, it had gotten to his half brother's wench. 'How?'

More determined than before, SesshouMaru set off and trailed the group. This time, for a different purpose. Instead of going to find his brother and get his father's fang, he was going after his brother's woman.

===============

Author's Note: oh! That was unexpected! lol


	5. Enter Kikyou

****

bSanctuary/b

Author's Note: Hey it's me again! I'd like to say thank you for those of you who read my story so far and thank you for the reviews! I dunno wats wrong with the italics though… so until I get that fixed, my stories might be a tad bit confusing.

Disclaimer's Note: Hey! No matter how many times I wish I owned InuYasha and co. I don't. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

InuYasha flexed his claws awaiting the on-coming battle between him and his half brother. He fingered the Tetsusaiga, which was hanging sheathed on his left hip. He growled with frustration as his brother's scent and aura was no longer noticeable. 

' What is he up to?'

Suddenly, he sniffed the air and felt a very familiar aura.

'Kikyou'

He fled quickly from Sango and Miroku and went off to find the dead miko. Sango was about to protest when Miroku suddenly grabbed her rear.

"HENTAI!"

As InuYasha ran, he heard an incredibly loud slap and shook his head. 'When will that lech ever learn?' 

============================

SesshouMaru slowly followed in pursuit of the woman who had worn his mother's necklace. He knew he could catch up to the three without wasting precious time, but he needed time to think. And for a great youkai lord like SesshouMaru, that was a rare moment.

His mother's emerald pendant necklace hung on one of his poison talons. The emerald glittered as the sun shone down on it. SesshouMaru stopped and gazed into the green stone. For once in a few decades, SesshouMaru smiled.

I " Sesshou… come here. I'd like to give you something" a gentle woman said. 

A young SesshouMaru complied. He happily ran towards his elegant mother's room and sat on her soft bed.

"What is it Okasan?" he asked eagerly. " Do I have to share it with anyone?"

The woman laughed and a soft twinkling sound flowed from her mouth, echoing throughout the castle halls. She so loved her son. He was the only thing that was keeping her sane at that moment. Running her long slender hands through her son's long white hair, she nodded.

" You may have to." She said, her violet eyes sadly gazing into her son's amber ones. 'You look so much like your father…' 

SesshouMaru pouted and huffed. " As long as it's not that hanyou, I'm fine!"

Yumemaru smiled at her son. " No, its nothing like that at all, kodomoko…" she started. She walked over to her jewelry box and took out a small chain and on it was a roughly cut emerald. " This is a necklace that your grandfather had given to me after my mother died. I would like you to have it, mosuko"

SesshouMaru stared at the necklace and gave his mother a confused look. " I am not a woman! I do not need jewelry…"

Once again, Yumemaru laughed but this time, she clasped it on her son's neck. " Mosuko, this is a mystical emerald. There is only one of its kind in the world and your grandfather, my father gave it to my mother, your grandmother when she was in need of a friend." She said. " They were linked, and my father always knew when my mother was in need of protection or in need of comfort"

SesshouMaru looked at his mother with a sudden feeling of dread. " Okasan?"

Yumemaru hushed him and held him in a tight embrace, letting her emotions free. Surprising SesshouMaru as he felt her tears fall on his cheeks.

" Think of me when you wear this, Mosuko…" she said between hiccups. " And when you find someone special give it to her"

" But… mating is just a way to create an heir… isn't it?" SesshouMaru asked uncertain of what his mother was telling him.

Looking into her eyes, he was surprised to see her shake her head. " kodomoko, I have not the answers to everything. But heed my words… do not let your pride blind you from your heart" /I

============================

InuYasha quickened his pace and stopped as he finally reached his destination. Kikyou stood before him, with his soul snatchers floating all around her feeding off the souls of those that had recently died. InuYasha shook off the sudden need to empty his stomach and stepped forward, making himself known.

"InuYasha" 

The wind carried her voice towards him making chills run down his spine. Kikyou flicked her left wrist which signaled the soul snatchers to leave.

" Kikyou… why do you insist on wandering like this?" InuYasha said, expression obviously pained.

" I swore on my grave that I would take you to hell with me…" Kikyo said, as she look at him, her eyes glinted angrily. " And I will!"

InuYasha could not bear to look away. This was the woman he had loved. The one he was meant to be with. But his heart clenched guiltily as a picture of Kagome's smiling face flashed in his brain.

He stepped away from the dead miko and bowed his head. " I cannot go with you"

Kikyou's step faltered, but she soon regained her strength. " You promised me…" Tears fell and InuYasha grimaced. He always hated it when women cried. " You promised to be with me forever… what has changed?"

Silence fell between the two. Kikyou stepped closer to InuYasha and touched his face, momentarily forgetting her rage.

" I still love you, InuYasha. We could still be together…" she said softly. 

For a brief moment, InuYasha felt warmth from the miko as well as love and longing. They were so close together. As Kikyou's arms snaked up his shoulders, he couldn't resist anymore. He placed his arms around her and leaned down to give her a kiss.

=======================

Kagome and Shippou were chatting happily with Kouga right behind them, when another small child ran up towards them.

" Kagome-sama's back!"

She pulled Kagome's arm towards the village and was welcomed heartily. They barely gave notice to the youkai prince behind her.

" Child, it is good to have ye back" Kaede said as she smiled at the girl who was now flushed with embarassment. " Don't be meek now. The village people had been worried ye be dead…"

Kouga cleared his throat and Kaede looked up. " She would never be harmed in my care"

" And who might ye be?" Kaede asked. " Another suitor, I presume?"

Kagome was about to protest when Kouga laughed. " I was one of her suitors…" he said. " But I prefer to think of Kagome-chan as my very good friend"

Kagome was confused and surprised at the same time. 'A friend?' Just before Kouga had left her alone in the woods, he was spouting out poetry and calling InuYasha an idiot for leaving his woman unguarded an now he seemed to have turned over a new leaf.

'This day is getting stranger and stranger'. 

" But then again… I would love to be the mate of a very powerful and beautiful woman." Kouga interrupted. " Sadly, I am not the one who holds her heart"

Kaede nodded. Shippou sniffed the air and smiled evilly. " Dog-breath's back!" He was about to go find him when Kouga lifted him up with his tail.

"He has a dead corpse with him"

Kagome's heart clenched painfully. 'Kikyou…'

========================

Author's Note: I wanted Kikyou to come in sooner or later…

bGlossary:

Mosuko: rough translation of my son

Kodomoko: rough translation for my child

Okasan: mother

Hanyou: half demon (half breed)

Kitsune: fox


	6. For Shippou

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Lol I just wanna say thank you again for the reviews and I'd like to answer Mistress Fluffy's question: yes, Kouga WAS in love with Kagome for a while, but as the story continues, you'll see why. That was a funny review though! Lol Egads! SesshouMaru sounds soooo cool in the anime! 

Disclaimer's Note: Hey! No matter how many times I wish I owned InuYasha and co. I don't. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

InuYasha walked slowly with Kikyou through his forest. He never really knew why his brother let him keep it.

IYoung SesshouMaru was angry at everything and everyone. His mother had left during the night and he had blamed everything that was human. Including himself. He knew his half brother had a temper but after witnessing him cutting an ancient tree into toothpicks, he decided never to make him mad ever.

"Damn ningen and their selfishness!"

That tore InuYasha up. Being a hanyou, he was half ningen and since his mother was one, he never liked SesshouMaru's way of expressing his thoughts about them. He wasn't very sensitive.

" Oniisan?"

SesshouMaru growled. "What?!" After an awkward moment of silence, SesshouMaru composed himself. "Don't call me that again. What?"

" Why are you so mad?"

SesshouMaru shook his head and sighed leaving a bewildered InuYasha alone. " Its nothing. It doesn't matter"

" I heard mama say that you're the next Lord of the Western Lands… isn't that cool?" 

SesshouMaru only scoffed. He didn't want to become one of them. One of those stiff snobs who only cared about power and … heirs. His look softened as he turned around to face his half brother. " It's a huge responsibility."

InuYasha nodded. " Can I have the forest… since you have all the west?"

SesshouMaru eyed his brother and sighed in defeat. Hanyou or not, his brother was still his brother. "Sure" /I

InuYasha sighed. 'What happened? When did we fall apart?' He sighed and looked at the woman beside him. He felt that feeling in his stomach again as he smelled her. He had a promise to keep. And by the gods… he would fulfill it. Someday.

=====================

Kagome stood stiffly before the well before giving up and sitting on its edge. 'Should I go? I-I don't belong here' She felt hopeless and helpless. She reached her neck only to find skin. Alarmed, she panicked and began to search the ground.

"NO!"

She fell on her knees and hugged herself. 'No' Tears flowed from her eyes and stained her cheeks. She had that necklace since she could remember. She felt strongly about it. She felt better when she held it. She remembered happy times and felt peaceful when she had it on.

"Kagome?"

She turned and saw Shippou with a worried look on his face. " What's wrong?"

Wiping her eyes, she shook her head. 'I have to be strong. If not for myself, for my pup'. "Nothing, mosuko… nothing at all"

Shippou was surprised that Kagome had called him her child, but figured that something was wrong, and just shrugged it off.

" InuYasha's back" he stated calmly. "He's at Kaede-baba's hut… he says he has something important to say."

Kagome nodded at him. " Okay, I'll come in a bit. I just need to get a bit of fresh air, okay?"

Shippou nodded, but couldn't shake off feeling worried. As he bounded off, he looked back at her just in case. She waved at him and watched as his small profile disappeared through the forest.

" Why do you insist on hiding?"

Sighing, she turned around to find Kouga. She sat there confused as he looked at her with a genuine look of worry. She laughed inwardly as he reminded her of a protective oniisan. 

" I do not hide! I just needed some space, for your information," Kagome said lightly. She turned away and started walking but Kouga caught her wrist and pulled her back.

"I'm serious Kagome-imouto-chan. I worry about you sometimes… You can confide in me you know…" he said 

Kagome smiled. " What happened?" she asked. " Last time we met you and InuYasha were fighting because he wouldn't let me go with you and now… you're acting like you're my oniisan"

Kouga laughed sheepishly. " Well… I-I" he sighed and took her hands in his. " My otousan just gave me… startling news, is all"

=======================

Back in Kaede's hut, InuYasha sat patiently with Kikyou in his arms. Kaede eyed her older sister warily.

" Do you fear me, Kaede?" Kikyou asked.

Kaede looked away sadly. 'Ye are nae my sister. She passed on 50 years ago… Ye are merely a body made of clay' she thought 

Kikyou felt… saddened by her younger sister's actions. " Kaede, look at me…" Kaede did. " I am still the Kikyou you once knew…"

" No you arent"

InuYasha huffed angrily. "Finally!" He was about to continue when Kagome cut him off. " As I said. You aren't the same Kikyou. You're merely a copy of what she used to be"

InuYasha growled. " You'd know!"

Kagome flinched at his words. ' NO! I am Kagome! I am nobody's copy!' At that thought, her body glowed a light blue hue that surprised most everyone but Kouga. They all took a step back from her as she tried to calm herself.

Kouga laid his hand on her shoulder and for a brief moment, she was calmed. Though it was brief, it was long enough for her to regain her composure.

" Excuse me, I have to go relieve myself of some built up tension"

With that, Kagome took her backpack and headed for the farthest hot spring. She wanted to be away from InuYasha as possible. Sango, sensing her frustration, followed in pursuit. 

"Come on Shippou, you're coming too!" Kagome said sweetly. 

Before InuYasha could protest, Kouga's foot was on his back and he lay unconscious on the floor. ( with swirly eyes. Lol)

====================

Answers to some questions asked in reviews:

Q: How is youkai adoption different from ningen adoption?

A: well, at least in my story, Shippou is still a kit a child and has to have some parental scent that lets other youkais know he's a child and that his mother is somewhere right? But his mom and dad have been killed due to the thunder brothers. So, in order for him to be adopted, the adoptive mother's blood has to mingle with his so that youkais will know that he's that person's child. 

Q: Is SesshouMaru and Kagome going to meet in the near future?

A: Yes. In the next chapter

Q: Will InuYasha regret taking Kikyou's side?

A: I personally do not like that miko. So yes, Inu will find out his mistake. But long after everyone finds out that Kagome is a youkai-hime.

Author's Note: woohoo! Another chapter!

Glossary

Musoko: my child

Ningen: human

Okasan: mother

Oniisan: older brother 

Otousan: father

Hime: princess


	7. Conflicts

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: I feel so happy! I got reviews! Lol. The more reviews I get the more I upload. I gave up on writing one chapter per day. As long as I have ideas Ill just write them and post one per three days. Aren't I such a teaser!

Disclaimer's Note: Hey! No matter how many times I wish I owned InuYasha and co. I don't. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sango had already made herself comfortable sitting on one of the rocks. Shippou was nervous. It had been a long time since he had a bath in the hot springs. He couldn't swim very well and usually took baths in the stream where the water wasn't so deep.

Kagome noticed this and held him high above the water. As she herself sat down and became comfortable, she lowered Shippou into the water and set him on her lap where the water only reached upto Shippou's neck.

Sango saw this and smiled. 'She acts more and more like a mother around him.' She wondered when Kagome would adopt Shippou, then stopped and frowned. ' Kagome's not a youkai… for her to adopt Shippou in youkai terms would mean that she would have to become a youkai…' Looking at the carefree kit on Kagome's lap, she sighed. ' The poor kit. He may think of Kagome as his mother… but she may never truly be…'

" What's wrong?"

Sango turned to her friend. She shook her head. " Nothing. I was just thinking."

Kagome smiled brightly. " About Miroku?"

"NO!" Blushing, Sango stared at the waters.

" Somebody said my name?"

The two stiffened as Miroku popped up behind the rock they were leaning on. 

"HENTAI!"

======================

Kouga was less than three meters away from where Kagome and Sango were bathing. His father had just informed him of his imouto's whereabouts and was worried to death about her.

' Once my imouto turns 18, she'll reveal herself…'

__

Young Kouga hears the commotion outside the tent but doesn't acknowledge it. He stares at the broken form of his step-mother. She was dressed in her best clothes, as well as himself and his sister. 

He gasped as he looked beside him where his imouto was sitting before.

" Kouga… where is your sister?"

He returned his gaze to the woman laying in front of him. He tried his best not to cry, but his body wouldn't obey him.

" Make sure she's safe, kodomoko… she holds inside her a powerful jewel. Only she can protect it." The woman said. She tried to take her step-son's hand, but failed.

Young Kouga, seeing this, placed his hand on hers. " We were finally going to be a family…" she said tears streaming down her beautiful white face. Her light purple marks were glowing.

Kouga shook his head. " Iie… were already were, okasan. We already were…"

Lady Ayame smiled. " You look just like your mother, Kouga. She was very beautiful. I wish she and I would have seen you grow…"

Kouga shook his head again. " Iie! Don't say that! What about my imouto? She needs you… I need you…"

Lady Ayame smiled softly. " Kouga, take care of her…" she called the healer. "tell the master that it is time. I cannot protect her any longer. Remember Kouga, once your imouto turns 18, she will return once again. She will need your help more than ever"

His hands were still clasping hers as it went limp. Kouga went off in search for his sister, only to see young inu youkai talking to her and giving her a small necklace. Before he had a chance to even come close to her, a wolf youkai came and knelt in front of her and took her away.

"NO! COME BACK!"

Sighing, he jumped down from the branch that he was resting on and took a walk. He suddenly heard two women shouting obscenities at a certain monk and decided to see what was wrong.

He gasped at the sight. Kagome and Sango's backs were on him, but that wasn't why he was shocked. On Kagome's left shoulder was a diamond shaped mark.

'That mark!'

He unconsciously traced the mark on his forehead and sprinted towards his father's lands.

' Kagome's my sister! I've found her!' happy tears leaked from his eyes. " I cannot wait until father hears this… no wonder I felt she was special! She's my sister!"

=====================

SesshouMaru felt nervous. For the first time ever, he felt nervous. He was close to the village and could smell her scent everywhere. Then, as he sniffed the air, he growled under his breath.

'That scent… it reeks of dirt and bones…'

Clutching the pendant, he felt oddly refreshed and sighed. His ear twitched as he heard soft giggling in the nearby springs. Since he was in his lands, he decided to see what the fuss was about.

As he reached the spring, his heart nearly stopped. There was Kagome and Sango with their backs towards him beating an unconscious houshi to the dirt. He could hear her laughter and his heart beat faster. He growled and muttered something about ningens.

'Why do I feel like this?!'

He pulled himself from the sight and flew back to his castle before his anger got the best of him.

=====================

Kagome felt a someone was watching her and turned around. She caught a sight of something long and white and her heart started to react.

'InuYasha?'

She decided to check it out and got out of the spring. " Kagome?"

"Oh, I'll be back. I just need something from Kaede's hut…" Kagome lied and smiled as she went through the forest.

As she came to the spot where she thought she saw InuYasha, she was surprised to feel a different but familiar aura.

'It seems gentle… but powerful at the same time…'

" Wench! There you are! Come on, call Sango and get back to the hut!" as he came through the path. " I have an announcement to make!"

Kagome nodded and went back to tell Sango and Shippou to hurry up. 'I wonder why he needed to bring Kikyou… unless…' Hoping that she was wrong, she helped Shippou put his clothes on and they walked back to the hut.

She walked behind Sango and Shippou, not wanting to disturb either of them with her mood. Her eyes were distant as if knowing what was going to happen and knowing she might never fully heal from the wounds that would come.

'I'll need to go home… but… should I… leave?'

She looked at Shippou and threw that option immediately. 'I might not belong here in this time, but I have a responsibility and I will not let some hanyou break that responsibility!'

===============================

SesshouMaru watched from afar and was slightly amused by his half-brother's wench. She had been easy to read. Like an open book. Her facial features clearly stated she was in conflict. 'But why?' He growled once more at himself and tore away from the sight.

' I thought I was going back to the castle?! Stupid wench… I will kill her next time I have the chance.'

With that, he placed the necklace on his neck and flew off. This time, back to the human who had already made it past his barriers. He chuckled as he thought more about it. He hated humans, but somehow could not picture living in that castle without Rin. He was like a daughter to him. 

' A motherless one…'

'I must be going crazy. The sooner that ningen miko is gone, the better my life will be!' Quickening his pace, he reached his castle and sighed. ' I should go and get some rest… maybe it's the weather that's affecting me…'

==============================

Meanwhile, InuYasha was sitting on his favorite branch waiting for Kagome and Sango to return. He needed them to hear this. Everyone of them. ' She'll leave' Pain struck his heart and that confused him more. 'Why do I feel this way? Why do I feel so damn guilty?'

__

You love her

'I love Kikyou'

__

Do you?

The question was blown away along with the wind. As he breathed in, he smelled two conflicting scents. One was comfortable and sweet, the scent of lavender and lilacs, the scent of love and life… the other, was the scent of hatred and anger, deceit and lies… the scent of old love and betrayal, the scent of death. 'I chose Kikyou… she's my mate. She always will be…'

He jumped down, knowing fully that Kagome was a mere feet in front of him. She didn't show signs of surprise or happiness. There was a void in her eyes that scared him. 

" Well, it's about damn time!" he said, using his arrogance and pride to hide his emotions from her.

"We're here now, so what is it you have to say?" Kagome said icily, shocking Shippou and Sango as well as chilling InuYasha down to his bones.

" Inside. They're waiting"

Kagome only nodded and held her hand out behind her for Shippou to take, which he happily did. Walking slowly so that the kit wouldn't have to run, they went inside. InuYasha took a deep breath and sat down beside Kikyou. He took her hand lovingly and surprised Kaede who scowled at him.

" Kikyou's joining us."

==============================

Author's Note: I'd like to thank CJ for telling me my error in Ch.1. He said that I made a huge mathematics error. 1 1/2 plus 15 does not equal 18. So… I'm sorry. Kagome had to have been at least 16 or 17 when she went through the well. The manga had said 15 and I forgot that I wanted her to be turning 18… so. Yeah. My mistake.

Answers to some review Questions:

Q: Is Kagome going to turn into a youkai?

A: you'll see

Q: How many chapters is this going to be?

A: Im not sure… more than 10 less than 50. Lol. See how unsure I am?


	8. News of a banquet

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: I have nothing to say right now… I don't know why.

Disclaimer's Note: I do not own InuYasha and co.

===========================

Shippou didn't know what scared him more, the sight of the corpse or the fact that Kagome was so calm about the whole situation. Silence hung thickly in the air. No one dared to say a word.

" Well?"

"Well what?" Sango said quietly. InuYasha stared at her then the rest of the group.

"Aren't you all even gonna welcome Kikyou in the group?!" he growled. " We'll be able to find the shards quicker now that she's around!"

Kagome stood quietly as her hair covered her face. Hiding her emotions from everyone. Without a word, she walked off. 

" Where do you think you're going?" InuYasha growled. "Just because Kikyou's here doesn't mean we don't need you, even though I don't want you here"

Kagome flinched and turned around. InuYasha regretted ever saying anything. " You went back on your promise. You said you'd protect me. You only hurt me. I am going home."

" Aren't you forgetting something?!" InuYasha asked. " I mean, the shards?! And the stupid beads!!"

Kagome smirked and shrugged. " Your problem. Not mine. As for the shards… I'm keeping them. Kikyou's had her time with it. I doubt the shards would be purified with her tainted soul!"

" As I said the first time I met you, Inu… It's been real, but I gotta go, Dog-boy!"

=======================

InuYasha came back into the hut with a forlorn look on his face. Kikyou looked at him strangely, and he shook it off and replaced it with a smile. 

" Well, at least we wont be tied down to anything slow!" he said.

Shippou had tears in his eyes. ' No… Kagome wouldn't just leave… me…' Sango saw him and held him tightly. Shippou welcomed it but soon wanted Kagome's hugs. Nothing compared to her hugs. They felt like his mother's… because to him… she was his mother.

" She'll be back," Sango said comfortingly. " She always comes back"

Shippou nodded. " Well… since Kagome's not here anymore… I… I guess I should stay with you Kaede-baba"

Kaede nodded and smiled at the kitsune. She sighed inwardly and hoped Kagome would be back. She looked over at InuYasha as he held Kikyou tightly. ' I cannot believe that youkai could be so stupid… to pour his own seed into nothing but a mere clay doll…'

============================

Kagome surprised herself at how calm she was being. No tears, no resentment, nothing. ' Well… deep inside, you knew InuYasha wouldn't completely love you… he only liked how you looked… like her…'

It was darker now. The sun had set and the moon was out. It was a full blue moon. She loved blue moons… she remembered that the day she turned 4, there was a blue moon and that was the day her oniisan had given her lessons on how to protect herself.

'Wait a minute… oniisan? I had no brothe-' She closed her eyes and thought back to the oldest memory she held. 

__

There were a lot of injured people. An eerie glow on the horizon told of something on fire. She could remember someone was holding her tightly and that they were running further and further away from the fire.

"Do not worry, hime-chan… you will see them again…"

'What?! I-I…'

She reached the well and shook the 'memory' dismissing it as just a vague dream or memory of a movie. She leaped gracefully into the well and was welcomed by a very painful landing.

She looked up and saw the star-lit sky. 'stars?' She felt for the vines and pulled herself up. 

'no…It cannot be… I…okasan… souta… jiisan… '

She collapsed on the grass and wept. She was trapped in this era. She was trapped in Shingoku Jirai with no one to depend on but herself. Then she remembered Shippou.

'Oh no… now what? I can't even defend mys- Oniisan… I had a brother… How could I have known that he was the one that taught me how to protect myself on a blue moon? What did he teach me…?' Kagome stopped crying and thought hard. 'Think dammit! Don't think of your exams… think of how to survive!'

__

"Here, Kagome-imouto… every youkai has powers inside them. You don't need a weapon at all. But you can only use these powers in dire situations…"

Kagome ran towards the village with all her might. She didn't care if InuYasha was still there with that… corpse. She didn't care. All she needed right now was her bow and arrow… and her pup.

'I'll find those shards myself… and get home somehow!'

================================

SesshouMaru sat quietly high up on a branch on one of the highest trees in the western lands. It overlooked pretty much half of his domain, his castle was seen clearly as were villages nearby.

He then again clasped the necklace that his okasan had given him all those years ago. He knew she was alive... just in hiding. 'But why? Otousan is gone and she has nothing to fear…'

"SesshouMaru-sama!"

SesshouMaru looked down and saw his trusty servant Jaken. He lifted his brow and wondered whether or not Jaken was incredibly loyal or just incredibly dumb. He did not care whether he was hurt as long as SesshouMaru was fine.

' Okasan was like that'

He effortlessly landed in front of Jaken. "What is it?" he asked monotonously.

Jaken stuttered as he failed miserably to contain his fear. " Th-th-there w-was a mess-sage from the c-council… SesshouMaru-sama…"

SesshouMaru looked at him apathetically. " Tell me something worth my time…"

Jaken cowered in fear at his master. " Th-they wish to hold a banquet f-for Lord Komashiro's daughter…"

SesshouMaru stopped and turned around. "Daughter? I was not aware that the Lord of the North Western lands had a daughter."

"Apparently, a very powerful miko had kept her out of danger until she was of age. I hear she is to return in less than 3 months" Jaken said with more ease. 

" I shall attend this banquet" SesshouMaru said. "I am… curious as to who this woman is" 'It is high time I find myself a mate… and a suitable mother for Rin'

=================================

Kouga rushed to where Kagome was. He was very excited. Though his father was very secretive about some information which he held back… Kouga could not contain his emotions any longer.

'I thought you were a dream…imouto… now I know you're not. I searched for you and now I found you! I cannot wait to tell you the news!'

=================================

Author's Note: You know… I hate to say it but no matter how many times I post this story… I don't get reviews… or that many. I really want to know how its doing… so if you guys can just please review? I mean… I know Sess/Kag fics are rare, but I feel better writing these than Inu/Kag fics… they're too… predictable.


	9. Kagome's Change

Author's Note: Hey all! Welcome back to my fic! I hate to do this… but Its hard to continue writing without support… so I will not post another chapter until I get at least 4 reviews per chapter. I don't want to be pushy or anything but… I really want to know your opinion. Criticisms are welcome!

Disclaimer's Note: I do not own InuYasha and co. I only love the series so much that I write a story based on the characters and how I wish that my 'dream' would become reality…

===============================

He stopped to catch his breath. Even with two shards inside his legs, he was not fast enough to get to the village in InuYasha's forest. It would take him at least a day to get there, considering he got lost during his excitement!

'I cannot believe that she's real… all those times I talked myself out of thinking that I had a sister!' Then he remembered how his father reacted.

__

Kouga rushed into his father's study to see him staring at a young youkai's picture. At first he thought it was Lady Ayame's only to find a smaller version of her. A kawaii little youkai with the family crest on her forehead. Two small lavender colored stripes on both of her cheeks. Her blue gray eyes illuminated the picture and her smile was priceless. Her black hair cascaded down to her shoulders.

"Komashiro-san?"

Kouga hated to call his otousan with such… formality, but ever since his Okasan's death… he hadn't called him otherwise.

" Kouga. I thought I had sent you to fetch Lady Yumemaru. You know how she gets after visiting her husband's grave," the taiyoukai said with a voice that commanded respect.

Kouga nodded. "Hai… Wakarimasen… demo… um…"

Lord Komashiro stopped what he was doing to stare at his stammering son. He had never seen him so nervous. 'What could have… aha!' Misunderstanding his gestures… a twinkle glinted in his eyes.

"Found her have you?" he asked.

Kouga's eyes went wide. "H-how did you know?"

"Father's intuition… you didn't think only mother's had them did you?" he said lightly. "Now come… you should bring her here!"

Kouga smiled. "Hai!"

"After all, its only right for the woman to meet her to be mate's parents!"

Kouga face-faulted and stared at his father.

"Mou! Otousan! Not that! I found my imouto!"

Lord Komashiro was slightly fazed, then took out a scroll from his study and read its contents. He smiled widely and laughed.

"I cannot believe I had almost forgotten Kagome's birthday! She will be of age soon!" he said happily. " I have lots to tell you, Kouga, my son… many to tell Kagome as well!"

'Father has never been so happy…' Kouga then quickened his pace even more.

===========================

Kagome muttered under her breath and tried not to gag when she pulled out her arrows from the dead carcass. She hated killing anything for any reason. Whether to protect herself or to feed herself. She hated it. 'But I need this to nourish myself and Shippou…'

She dragged the dead deer to a nearby stream and cleaned it. As she came into the campsite, she saw Shippou who was now lighting the campfire. It had been almost three days since she and Shippou had left InuYasha's group to search the Shikkon no Kakera on their own.

Although Kagome had been very weary of the fact that she had not fully completed in perfecting her miko skills, she had, however made progress with her bow.

" Okasan, is the deer ready yet?" Shippou asked.

Kagome nodded and took out her dagger and cut the meat as they roasted it on a stick. Kagome laughed inwardly at the sight. If someone had told her two weeks ago that she would be stuck in Shengoku Jirai without anything from the future but her toothbrush, some textbooks, cloth, and a dagger, she would have called them insane. 

" Here, this one's done" Kagome said sweetly and watched as Shippou ate it slowly letting it cool slightly. She had called him her son before and had liked the sound of him calling her mother. "I'll be back in a moment, yell if something happens okay?"

Shippou nodded and yawned as his mother went to wash herself. He took a good look at her and smiled. She looked more like a youkai than a human for some reason. She wore a comfortably loose black kimono that resembled SesshouMaru's, only she wasn't wearing an armor. Her hair was a little longer than before and had streaks of light brown in them. Her quiver was always on her back, unless she was asleep. She had a dagger that was easy to hide underneath her kimono, strapped in the middle of her lower leg. But her clothes and hair wasn't the only thing that surprised Shippou, it was her ears that did. They seemed to have become much like his, pointed and sensitive to sound.

'Maybe… her miko powers are affecting her?' he wondered as he fell into a deep sleep.

Kagome cursed as she washed her face. In less than 3 months, it would be her 18th birthday, and she was not going to be with her family. A wave of depression crashed through her, and she instinctively grasped her neck only to find nothing hanging there.

'oh… right… I lost the necklace… damn chain!' she thought. 'If only I had it fixed like mama told me to…'

She sighed and looked back at her reflection. She liked what she saw, but it disturbed her as well. Not only did she have pointed ears, they were sensitive! And she was beginning to see pink stripes on her cheeks. That was not a good sign.

" At least I know that whatever I'm turning into, I'm a full one…" she said bitterly.

=================================

Kouga reached the village and sniffed around. He was disturbed by the scent. That hag that reeked of dirt and bones was still there and worry and fear had overpowered Kagome's scent. He went into Kaede's hut and found InuYasha and the dead miko as well as the youkai hunter and the houshi still sitting there.

"What's going on? Where's Kagome?" he asked.

This got their attention. The group looked at him with confusion in their eyes.

"What? That wench isn't with you?" InuYasha asked. " Dammit! We thought she went with you to search the Shikkon…"

"What?! You let her wander off alone?!"

"No… she took Shippou…"Sango started. "But then again, he's her pup now…"

"How could you do that?!" Kouga growled.

"Hey, if you cared enough about her you should've looked after her!" InuYasha snarled

"I would have if I could have!"Kouga yelled. "I had to go back to my father's land to tell him of the news!"

" What news?" Miroku asked.

"You're finally going to become her mate?!" InuYasha asked.

"How can I mate with my own SISTER?" 

===================================

SesshouMaru needed to stretch his legs. Not to mention, he wanted some time to just see his lands and not fight to control it. The banquet being held in the North Western lands would create a few months of peace. Hopefully, some prince would take her and the peace last for more than mere months.

" Jaken, make the camp fire. I will be back shortly" he said, more for Rin's sake than Jakens.

The little toad youkai nodded and went off to find firewood with Rin staying obediently by the large oak tree.

He sighed as he was out of anyone's sight. His brother's wench had gotten to him and had somehow affected him more than he thought. He felt calm around her and wanted to be with her. But his status prevented it, as well as his pride.

As he slowed his pace, his noticed the pendant of his mother's necklace had started to glow and for some reason, he felt something tug at him. Making his legs more faster towards a small camp. It was **HERS**. Her scent overwhelmed him. Something had changed though… her scent was still of lilacs and lavender…but there was a hint of… what? Cinnamon? Some sort of spice that enticed him more so than her original scent.

He was careful to stay upwind, as to why, he had no idea. Afterall, she was a ningen and ningens did not have the same keen sense of smell. But his instincts drove him to stay upwind. As he neared, he saw something that shocked him. And his being SesshouMaru… that was a truly impossible feat! And to think… she surprised him even while she was asleep!

'The girl… she's… youkai?'

===============================

Author's Note: I know what you are all thinking! Do not worry! The next chapter, Kouga finds Kagome and brings her HOME. Not to mention, she meets a certain someone that was missing for almost half a century… hint: someone's MOTHER


	10. InuYoukai

Author's Note: **eep** I cannot believe the number of reviews I got! Thank you and thank you also for telling me my mistake for the meaning of Wakarimasen. Oh by the way: here's the next chapter so please! Don't die yet! You can die once I'm done! Lol

Disclaimer's Note: ^-^;; seriously… next time you even have to ask… I **will** sic Inu on you…

===========================

SesshouMaru could not believe what was in front of him. The woman that traveled with his half brother was leaning comfortably on the trunk of an ancient tree. The pup that traveled with her snuggled safely on her lap.

Careful not to disturb the two, he neared them and examined the onna closer. Her form seemed more calm and relaxed now than it was before. But then again, he thought… the only time he cared enough to see her was when he tried to kill her. 

A stray hair fell and covered her face. Not knowing what possessed him to do so, he gently brushed it away with his left hand. He examined her face and his heart beat faster. He noticed that both her cheeks had two pink stripes, much like his own. He noticed that her hair was considerably longer as well. 

'What is this I feel?' 

Growling softly, he stood and flexed his claws. 'Once she's gone, this feeling will go away!'

Before he could even blink, he sensed someone coming near. 'Chikuso! Why does it always seem that my bakayaro hanyou brother arrives when I am about to inflict pain on this wench?'

He noticed how late it was and remembered Rin. He leaned down at the girl and inhaled her scent. ' Lavender… and lilacs…' " I will finish what I started. You can count on that" he whispered in her ear, noticing her ears that looked so much like his.

He noticed she was starting to wake. 'What to call you now? Ningen… no… she seems too ethereal to be a mere ningen… youkai? No… too pure…'

"Kagome"

He snapped out of his reverie and saw a pair of enchanting blue gray eyes staring into his own. 

" You don't have to call me ningen… or onna, or youkai… just call me Kagome"

His mask of indifference hid his emotions well, but his eyes told Kagome everything. Without saying a thing, he flew off, leaving a bewildered Kagome to stand by herself.

===================

Kagome stood there, not knowing what had happened. She was sleeping comfortably when someone had whispered in her ear. 

" I will finish what I started. You can count on that"

She tensed, knowing fully whose voice it was. That was when she felt something tugging at her soul. She opened her eyes to find SesshouMaru in deep thought.

__

What to call you now? Ningen…no…she seems too ethereal to be a mere ningen… youkai? No…too pure…

She heard him, yet… he did not even more his mouth. At first she thought it was her ears changing again, but noticed that he had a far off look, as if he did not even notice that she was awake. She felt her mouth opening and her voice saying her name.

He looked at her with pure shock clear in his eyes. She did nothing, but stand there. "You don't have to call me ningen, or onna, or youkai, just call me Kagome" 

'What am I doing?! Shut up! Why am I doing this?'

She saw his look of boredom, but noticed his eyes gave him away. He was amazed and confused. He wanted to know how she read his mind. 

'You and me both, SesshouMaru… you and me both'

She watched as he bounded away, and she felt a loss within her. As if she had just lost a piece of her soul. She laughed bitterly and clenched her fist. Not noticing that her fingernail dug into her palm, making it bleed profusely.

'A piece of my soul… If only Kikyou could give it back… '

She was about to go back to sleep when she noticed Shikkon shards coming her way. She decided to see what this change in her could do, so she sniffed the air and smelled two ningens, one male, one female, three youkais and a corpse.

'Why did they find me?'

She was about to take Shippou and make a run for it, when a red clothed hanyou stood in her way. 

====================================

Kouga smiled widely. The spell was wearing off, and since many now knew of her, it was wearing off fast. His little sister was now revealing herself to the world. Though, he noticed that she had many differences from him, like her stripes, and her arms.

'They're **HER** attributes… Lady Ayame's…'

He noted her pupils were slits, much like a cats, and her hair was longer. He could not see her arms, because of her shirt, but saw her hands. They had stripes and her nails were no longer the small stubs, but sharp claws. He looked up at the sky and saw the blue moon.

'no wonder she's changing fast… Blue moon is always when spells were least powerful…'

He stepped up towards her and gave her a big hug. He noted how she tensed, but suddenly went limp.

" Kouga-kun?"

" I finally found you, imouto… after searching for so long… I finally found you!"

==============================

Kagome sat sandwiched beside Sango and Kouga. She sat a few feet in front of InuYasha and Kikyou who were cuddled close together. 'Too close, for my comfort…' Kagome thought icily.

" Kouga… how did you… I mean… I've been a ningen all my life…" Kagome said breaking the silence. They had a little midnight snack and were trying hard not to wake Shippou.

" Well… it may sound perverted, but I saw the mark on your left shoulder." He said. He brushed his hair aside and showed her the silver diamond shaped mark on his forehead. "This is a mark of the Royal Family of Lord Komashiro."

" But… I'm human…" Kagome disputed.

"Are you really?" Kouga teased. " I've never met a human with claws, stripes on their cheeks, slitted eyes, pointed ears and very sensitive nose… No, Kagome, my dear imouto… you are a youkai"

"But… " Kagome said. " How…"

Kouga silenced her and watched InuYasha from the corner of his eyes. 'That lousy hanyou… **NOW** he notices her… what a waste of a body…'

" You are the legendary Youkai Miko whom Midoriko prayed to hold her crystallized soul"

==================================

****

Kagome's dream

__

Midoriko gasped audibly as the centipede-like youkai started to devour her. Time seemed to pass slowly by her as the pain engulfed her whole body. She knew what she had to do. She just knew she had to. Being a Miko, she had special abilities, knowing what was to happen in the future. She knew that her soul would go on, in a crystallized form battling with the soul of this youkai.

She also knew that she needed someone of pure soul to guard it. But a mere Miko would not suffice. She was special. Midoriko knew from the beginning that she herself was nothing compared to the young Miko that was to be born centuries later.

Before she died, she gave out one last breath of prayer. One that gave every creature hope of survival without being tainted by evil.

' Kami-sama… guide my soul to the one Youkai Miko… she will be strong. She can eternally protect this one'

Praying softly in her mind, she glowed an unearthly blue and reached into the youkai. With all her will power, she shot her soul, combined with the youkai's and crystallized it, letting it out of her body, leaving a gaping hole in her chest.

Kagome's eyes shot opened. She scanned the camp and sighed. She had been having the same dreams of the battle since she turned 17. It would not let up and would not reveal what ties it had with her. 

She recalled what had just happened before she passed out. Kouga was telling her of the last time he had seen her and tried to make her remember the times they had shared. Alas, the 'spell' it seems still had a strong hold on her mind.

'If there is a spell at all' Kagome said. ' What if this is all a trick to get the Shikkon?'

Some small voice at the back of her mind, seemed to disagree. _What if it isn't?_

Looking down at her lap, she saw Shippou shivering slightly as the cold wind blew harder. She smiled softly and felt something twitch. She looked beside her and saw a beautiful black and white boa-like thing coiled beside her. 'Oh my… its so soft!' She felt her touch and realized that it was a tail… and it was hers. ' Its like… Sesshou's… **SESSHOU**? Where did **that** come from?'

Slumping her shoulders in defeat, she willed her tail to move and it felt good for it to stretch. She covered Shippou in it and used it as a blanket for both him and her. It was long enough and warm enough.

'Well… as I said before, at least whatever I'm changing into… I'm a full one'

She was about to close her eyes when she saw Kouga asleep next to her. She noticed that his tail was considerably shorter and less fluffy. She also noticed that the only similarities he had with her were their eyes and fangs.

'I wonder what his true form looks like? Or for that matter… mine?' she thought 'Ack! I'm actually believing this!'

She ran her tongue around her newly found fangs and noted how sharp they were. She also noticed that they didn't hurt her at all. She glanced at her watch and saw it was 4 in the morning and saw stripes as well. Pushing the sleeves of her shirt up, she saw they were the same color of the stripes on her cheeks.

'Just what kind of a youkai am I?'

" You're a very powerful Inuyoukai, it seems" a voice from beside her said. She smiled as she looked at Kouga who was now stretching

" But I thought you were a wolf?" she asked.

" I am. Father is an arctic wolf youkai. And my birth mother was a wolf youkai. Arctic wolves have longer and bushier tails… and are pure white, where as… my mother had a short tail and… well was a dull grayish color…"

"So… how can I be an Inu?" she asked. " Aren't you my brother?"

Kouga scoffed playfully. " Ya! So? Your Okasan, was a full Inu Youkai. She had poison talons… had beautiful black fur… and a beautiful black tail!"

"So… you're my half brother… and I'm a hanyou…" Kagome drawled.

"heck no. You're as full a youkai I am… you're just of mixed breeds… but considering… its still the same, because now you have both wolf and Inu abilities. You have poison talons… seeing the stripes on your arms… and you seem to have father's best quality as well!"

Kagome felt unsure. " And that was?"

" poison fangs" 

Kagome flushed as she recalled herself brushing her tongue against her fangs…' Oh Ya.. my poison doesn't affect me…'

" How…would you know?"

Kouga grinned. " I have 'em too!"

" What… what's mother like?"

Kagome waited hanging her head. She looked up and saw pain in Kouga's eyes. " She… was beautiful… and gentle and kind… "

" What… happened?"

Kouga squatted in front of her and looked deep into her eyes. Kagome instantly knew what had happened. Without talking, she knew what had happened to her mother. Their mother.

==============================

Author's Note: I'm evil! I know! ^-^ don't worry! I'll update once I get the nerve to find some way to make Inu act like a dumb bum…

__


	11. Separate Ways

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. I have… well a lot to say, but its 9:10 in the evening and I have school tomorrow. Hopefully this will tide people over until I get the chance to be in front of the computer without homework again! I noticed that two or three chapters don't have the **Sanctuary** title on the top… I guess I got lazy… ^_^

Disclaimer's Note: You should know this by now… Next time you ask… you will have a very angry Sesshou in real form in your room, and judging by the normal size of people's rooms… you'd have a wrecked room with no roof…

============================

No words were exchanged as the two gazed into each other's eyes. Kouga's reflected pain and unbearable memories, while Kagome's reflected the pain of not knowing who she really was. She wanted to know. No, she needed to know who she was. After 14 years of being a ningen, living 500 years in the future, she had no idea who she was and where she belonged.

Kouga stood and motioned for her to do the same. Carefully placing Shippou in a sleeping Sango's arms, she followed in pursuit of Kouga, who was now well beyond hearing range. She noted how fast she had become due to the changes that were happening even as she was breathing.

" Let's take a walk, shall we?" Kouga said in an unusually quiet voice.

Kagome said nothing, but followed him as he walked. Not bothering to use the Shikkon no Kakera in his legs.

" Kagome, half a century ago, the North Western lands was being bombarded with attacking youkais and ningens alike. It seems something sparked an interest within them." Kouga said bitterly. " It seemed, someone had their claws on some information regarding a certain legend."

" Legend?" Kagome asked. Her ears twitched at the tiniest sound. ' How do they do this? Even the sound of something chirping sounds like a car passing by…'

Kouga faced his sister and looked at her. " Yes, there is a legend amongst us youkai." He started. " Mostly just the Komashiro clan knew of this. Not many knew of the legendary second Shikkon"

Kagome stopped walking as soon as she heard his last sentence. "Second… Shikkon?"

Kouga nodded. He went and sat on a fallen log and motioned for her to sit next to him. Even with her new height, she was still a bit shorter than he was. She had still grown to be InuYasha's height. She sat down and twiddled her thumbs.

Kouga had a far off look, and Kagome remembered Jiisan and his infamous 'telling of a legend' look. She sighed inwardly. 'I wonder how they are doing…'

" Midoriko, as you may have known, was a very powerful Miko. She could purify anything within a 5 yard range." Kouga started. Kagome nodded, knowing fully of what he was talking about. " You may also know that it was a ningen male that had caused her downfall…"

Kagome again, nodded at this. " He loved her from afar, didn't he?"

" Much like Onigumo with Kikyou" a soft voice said from behind them.

Kagome turned around and saw Sango with a sleeping Shippou in her arms. " I'm sorry if I've intruded, but Shippou was calling for you in his sleep…"

Kagome smiled and shook her head. " Please, sit."

Kouga cleared his throat and went on. " Anyway, yes, Sango's words are correct. However, the one thing that not many people knew about was Midoriko's other half." 

Kagome and Sango looked at each other. " Other…" " Half?"

" Yes, you see, like Kikyou, Midoriko was in love with a youkai. But she was in love with a TaiYoukai. To be precise, our great grandfather" Kouga said stretching his arms as the sun began to rise. 

" But… does that mean that Kagome and you are descendants of Midoriko?" Sango asked.

Kouga shook his head. " Iie… we aren't."

" Then… how?" Kagome asked. 

" Grandfather was already born at that point." Kouga said slowly. " Well… our great grandfather took his mate, made an heir and left only coming back once our grandfather was of age to teach him how to be a proper Lord of the North Western lands"

Kagome nodded. "I see. So what happened to him?"

"Our grandfather? He had sons, and had our father who had us…"

"No, no… I mean, our Great Grandfather…" Kagome said. " What ever happened to him?" 

Kouga's emotions darkened. " Well, after Midoriko's death, he swore upon himself to protect it until the chosen guardian for it is born."

" So, you're saying the Shikkon had a protector?" Sango asked. " I know of all this… but I had no idea that the Shikkon was to have a chosen guardian. What if they died?"

"Well that's just the thing. See… the reason why the guardian is so special is because she would have to be both Youkai and Miko. And to be its guardian, you would have to be powerful. Powerful enough to rival even the Shikkon itself." Kouga said. " But back to the task at hand. Our Great Grandfather had protected the jewel until for some reason, it just disappeared into thin air. He knew that it had chosen its protector. So, to confuse vain ningens and youkais, he had told one of his servants that once he did his final task, to take the fake Shikkon and give it to the village nearby"

" So, we were protecting a false Shikkon back then?" Sango asked. " But… we entrusted it to…"

"Kikyou"

--------------------------------

InuYasha woke up and saw the sleeping figure next to him. His nose wrinkled with disgust at her scent. ' I do not know why I put up with you…'

__

Yes, you do…

InuYasha clutched his head. That voice. He remembered it. He hated it. ' Look… why can't we just… let go of the past and just… move on?!'

__

InuYasha… you promised…

Growling, InuYasha closed his eyes momentarily. Holding his breath, the voice went away. He clutched the Tetsusaiga and sighed. 'Steel Cleaving Fang… You are the only thing that is keeping me sane…'

Kikyou stirred and opened her eyes. She felt weak. 

" InuYasha"

He looked down and his anger ebbed away and was replaced by guilt. If it were not for his request, Kikyou would not have died. She would have been married and would have had many pups. 'Kagome…'

Looking at where she had been sleeping, he noticed her absence, but shrugged it off. 'Probably to bathe herself again. Humph… stupid Ningen'

" What?" he asked.

" I need to gather souls… I…am famished."

He cringed inwardly. He hated the fact she needed to devour souls to keep herself alive. He then again asked himself why he put himself through such torture. 

__

You know you can wish her back.

'But then… Kagome…'

__

Why not have both? Youkais can do that you know…

InuYasha grinned. 'I can't believe I never thought of that before!' He took Kikyou and began to run off towards the stench of dying ningens.

-------------------------------

Kouga watched as his younger sister began to clear things up and make sure that her scent was no where to be found.

"Why all the secrecy? Don't you want people to know…"

He stopped as he saw her tense. 

" I don't want people to find me. InuYasha is probably out with Kikyou to find her 'food'." She started monotonously. " When he comes back… I don't want him to trace me. At all"

Sango had a sad expression etched in her face. " You know… we could split up"

Kagome's eyes widened in surprise. " No! Just because that baka decided to leave me, doesn't me you have to!"

Sango smiled lightly. " No… I think this is best. You go and get your youkai self in check… and Miroku and I will distract InuYasha and Kikyou."

Kagome smiled thankfully at her friends and waved as Miroku and Sango rode Kirara and they all went their separate ways.

"Well, we should go." Kouga said. " Father wants me to fetch Lady Yumemaru"

Kagome smiled and nodded. " Who's Lady Yumemaru?"

" She's our teacher" Kouga said. "Yours more likely. I'm still a pup in youkai terms, but I preceded the whole education bit. The only sensei I have now is experience."

Kagome smiled as Kouga started to do a victory dance yelling for joy. " No more senseis, no more hitting me with sharp sticks! No more…" he shuddered. " Corners to look at…"

She shook her head. ' He reminds me a lot of Souta…' She felt sad once more. 'I wonder how he's taking all this? No! Think positive! Once I have the full Shikkon… I can wish to go back! Yes…'

The small voice from the back of her mind called out to her once more, asking her a question that plagued her for the rest of the trip.

__

What about your family here… they haven't seen you in half a century. And what about Shippou, do you really want to abandon your pup?

====================================

Author's Note: wow! I cannot believe how many people gave me reviews! Thank you thank you all! I decided to post the little tid bit about the History of the Second Shikkon as the next chapter… Well its not really a chapter more like if you people are confused about it, that will somewhat clear things up.


	12. Clearer Version: Legend of the Second Sh...

The Legend of the Second Shikkon  
  
Author's Note: THIS I own. I made this up.  
Disclaimer's Note: I dont own InuYasha and co.  
  
==========================================  
  
Midoriko was a powerful Miko who could purify any evil that was in a 5 yard range. Her pure aura itself could purify anything in its way. She was a Miko who had powers beyond anyone's imagination. However, being a Miko was not all fun and games. It was a huge responsibility, one that tends to wear people down. Strong Mikos had the power to see into the future, or at least a small amount of it.  
  
Midoriko knew about her coming death and had planned to crystallize her soul in order to protect herself and keep the power to fall into the wrong hands. Being a Miko, it was ironic that she had a youkai lover. The man that had been possessed by lesser youkais had been her downfall, but her lover had been her temporary guardian.  
  
He was a powerful TaiYoukai who was the Lord of the North-Western lands. He did not care much for it and only returned to train his son to rule the lands after him. Midoriko had informed her lover of her upcoming death, he did not wish it to happen, but he knew it was inevitable. Therefore, after Midoriko had shot her soul along with the hanyou's soul into the Shikkon, he took it to safety.  
  
Midoriko, in her last breath had prayed that the Shikkon be placed under the care of someone who had been stronger than she had. She prayed for it to be protected for all eternity, to keep the balance of good and evil.  
  
Her youkai lover had a pure heart and a pure soul, which he had given to Midoriko willingly. He loved her with everything he had. Thus, after the Shikkon disappeared, signalling the destined guardian's birth, he called upon his loyal servant. After giving him instructions to take the 'Shikkon' to the nearby exterminator village.  
  
The same way Midoriko created the real Shikkon, he made the false one with his own soul. It works the same way the shikkon does, only to a certain extent. As HIS last prayer, he wished that his soul would make its way to Midoriko's. Once the job was done, his servant came inside the room to find his master's body and the false Shikkon on the floor.  
  
Being loyal to his master, he dropped off the second Shikkon at the nearest village, only to end up being slaughtered by the villagers themselves. After finding the false jewel, they gave it to a Miko in InuYasha's forest. 


	13. Humoring Kouga

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all the support and all the suggestions and grammatical corrections! You care about me! You really do! Thank you.

Disclaimer's Note: Ask me that again, and you'll see me with the unsheathed Testusaiga standing beside your bed when you wake up.

============================

" Kedou, stop pacing, you're giving me a headache!"

The great lord of the North-Western lands sighed and gracelessly slumped into his comfortable reading chair. His large white tail dragging behind him.

" I apologize for my childish behavior," he said as he gazed intently at the burning log in the fireplace.

The graceful Inu Youkai smiled as she walked towards the distraught lord. She regarded the man who now looked like a lost puppy and the stacks of paperwork still left undone. Something was obviously troubling him.

She placed a comforting hand on her best friend's shoulder, which he patted as he sighed.

" So Kedou, what seems to be troubling you?" 

Lord Komashiro growled slightly at the nickname that the woman had given him, but sank even deeper into the chair.

" She's coming back."

The woman gasped, and he nodded. " It cannot be! " she said. " I mean, it's been half a century! We thought…"

"She was dead. Yes, as did everyone in our family." Lord Komashiro sighed. " I'm afraid of what to think."

"How did young Kouga react to this news?" 

" He was the one that found her," he replied. " Yume, he was normal! You should have seen him! The fire that he had when he thought he found his mate had no comparison to the fire that his eyes held within them now!"

The woman's violet eyes gleamed with happiness as her best friend smiled, but it went just as fast as it came and her usually straight posture slumped a tiny bit as he became dark and moody.

" I had to humor him, Yume…" 

Sighing, she slipped her arms around him and gave him a comforting hug. " Kedou, if Ayame was here in your place, she'd have done the same thing."

Lord Komashiro nodded. " But if this girl really is who Kouga thinks she is… why should she choose now to reveal herself?"

He turned and asked the woman beside him. Yumemaru was his wife's best friend. She had fought beside them both at the battle ten years after she had moved in. Her beautiful violet eyes still held the grief of Ayame's death. They both found comfort in each other's presence remembering Ayame in each other's friendship. 

Lord Komashiro had asked Lady Yumemaru for advice for many legal problems and had often asked her to take care of Kouga when he was a child.

" To tell you the truth, Kedou… I do not have a clue," she said. " Kouga has been out of it for a long time, and it cannot be just mere coincidence that someone looks like Kagome-chan."

Lord Komashiro nodded in agreement. " By the way… why do you insist on calling me Kedou?"

Yumemaru smiled. " You influence many youths, so it seems fitting"

Lord Komashiro shook his head. " My lady, if you were not my wife's best friend as well as mine, I would think you were insane"

"Why thank you Kedou! I think your insane too" 

Thankful that her best friend was now in a happier mood, she left the study and went on towards her own chambers.

=============================

When she reached her room, she let go of the cheerful mask she wore and relaxed. She stretched her sore muscles and massaged her stiff tail. As she sat down in front of her vanity, she looked into the mirror and stared at her reflection with disgust.

The markings on her cheeks always reminded her of her status and her line. The crescent moon on her forehead was still clear and did not show any signs of fading. She turned away and looked around her spacious chambers.

There was a large bed assorted with blankets, furs and pillows of all shapes, sizes and colors. One would ask themselves why there would be so many, but it looked elegant. Like something from a fairy tale. There was a window that overlooked the gardens and would let the sun in come daybreak. There were fur rugs on the floor that kept Yumemaru warm when she felt like reading on the ground. Her oak closet was filled with kimonos and battle gear. But nothing was there to keep her company.

'This is a sad life I lead' she thought. ' Ayame… if only you were still here'

A small tear fell from her left eye and made its way down her cheek and finally dropping on her kimono creating a deep red circle on her red silk kimono.

Sighing, she walked towards the window and sat on the chair that was beside it. Muttering only one word as her gaze fell on the beautiful star lit sky.

" SesshouMaru"

=========================

Kagome sat up suddenly as a cold wind blew at the nape of her neck. Something was not right. It was too quiet. She frantically looked around for her 'brother' and found him sitting on a branch InuYasha-like and staring at the blue moon in the sky. Remembering a few things about her past, she smiled. 'He hasn't changed much'

Careful not to make a sound, she crept up behind him. " What's wrong?"

"Kagome! You scared me!" he said proudly. " Wow, your youkai abilities are certainly getting better!"

She smiled half-heartedly. A question had been plaguing her mind for so long since she found out about her 'family'. If she was youkai, why did she become a ningen… and why was she still 17 and not 54? Kouga seemed to notice and placed his arm around her shoulders.

" You know, since I am your oniisan, you can tell me anything and everything you want…" he hinted.

Kagome nodded. " Why was I sent away?"

Kouga was silent. She hung her head and stared at the ground below. Her eyesight had improved tenfold and she could hear everything, even the low beating of Kouga's heart. Her senses had been heightened, and for some odd reason, she could detect colors around a person, and even smell their emotions. And right now, Kouga was enveloped in a dark blue hue and he smelled of pain and grief.

"To tell you the truth, imouto…" 

Kagome raised her head and looked at him, staring into his beautiful blue eyes. Hers widened as she read his emotions. He was just as confused as she was.

"I … don't know…" he turned away and stared at the blue moon. " You were taken away from us by InuTaisho. After Okasan had informed a servant to tell father it was time… though for what I have no clue. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye. He… he just took you."

"I… InuTaisho?" Kagome stammered as her eyes widened. " As in… SesshouMaru and InuYasha's father InuTaisho?"

Kouga seemed shocked. " I had no clue dog-turd was related to the lord of the western lands, not to mention the Great Lord of the Western lands…"

Kagome nodded. " Well… where did he take me?"

Kouga shrugged. " I was a pup then… I still am, but I was a younger pup. I was as little as Shippou over there. I could not keep up to a TaiYoukai."

As if hearing his name, Shippou stirred in his sleep and murmured Kagome's name. 

" I remember being dressed up that day…" Kagome started. " Why?"

Again, Kouga seemed to be remembering repressed memories. Pain filled his eyes and his aura darkened quite a bit. " Okasan, Lady Ayame… your mother… she was going to adopt me as her own. She felt that I needed to accept her as my mother before she decided to fill my birth mother's place…"

Kagome kept silent as if knowing something had happened. " But… we never got to it… youkais from all over the country as well as rogue ningens came to fight."

"Oh"

" You know… we still had no clue how people found out about the second Shikon… we heard that it was burned with the priestess who was guarding it." Kouga said. " Then… the real one seemed to have attracted so many evil youkais and ningens… it was strange as if… something or someone had informed these youkai about its existence."

" Can anyone really tell the difference from the Shikon and the Youkai Shikon?"

" Well… there is a slight difference between the two…" Kouga said. " The Shikon that Midoriko and the youkai created are conflicted. Its not entirely pure, nor can it be entirely purified unless it is in the hands of its real guardian. The Shikon that our ancestor made is pure and strong. It can be turned evil by its holder, but any old miko can purify the jewel."

" Okasan?"

Kagome heard a small whimper and gracefully leaped down towards the sleeping pup. She scooped him up and placed him in her sweater. 

" We should go. The castle's not far from here," Kouga said. " We should be there by noon if you get on me"

" You and I are at the same speed so-" 

"No, I'm transforming. You can ride on me and get some rest" he said as he glowed a light blue and within seconds, stood a marvelous brown wolf the size of a two-story house.

'He's smaller than SesshouMaru… ACK!' Kagome slapped her forehead. 'Why am I thinking of HIM? Kagome… you're going nuts'

=====================================

Author's Note: Thank you for telling me that I misspelled shikon no tama! I hope you liked it! 

Kedou-to influence someone or influencing a person

Yumemaru- beauty - its actually spelt Yumimaru to be beauty but it looks better if its Yumemaru in my opinion, so… :P


	14. News of arriving guests

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: hey all! I decided to make this chapter longer so that Sesshou and Kagome can… well… meet and… stuff… lol I know their meeting was kind of delayed but them to be a bit far from each other. I mean, SesshouMaru needs a lot of thinking and Kagome's well heartbroken right now.

Disclaimer's Note: what? You still think… OMG! What in the world is that behind you!? It's a giant cockroach…

Inu: why did you dress me up like this?

-_-;; just read the story

==========================

Jaken felt relieved. His master, Lord SesshouMaru was sending him to the North-Western lands to inform Lord Komashiro that he had accepted his invitation for him to stay at his castle until the banquet is to occur. Lately, not many youkais have wandered into the Western lands and a vacation would serve SesshouMaru well.

'I hope Rin does not irritate SesshouMaru-sama…'

As much as Jaken hated the annoying brat's constant babbling, he had grown quite accustomed to the child. Ningen or not, he felt that nothing would be the same if Rin was not present.

===============================

"You WHAT?!"

Komashiro winced as Yumemaru started to shriek contrite names and even more distasteful words at him.

" Yume, I did this so you could be more… mellow," Komashiro said trying hard to soothe the hyperventilating woman. " It is better for him to know you are alive, my friend."

" Shiro… SesshouMaru has not seen me for nearly 60 years," Yumemaru said tersely. " What makes you think that meeting him now will be better for him?"

Komashiro smiled. " Ayame once said: that 'it is better to get things out in the open than to keep it buried with you in your grave' I believed her and I asked her to become my mate. Things worked well."

" Well for a while, Shiro… look what that got her"

Yumemaru's hand flew to her mouth. " I am so sorry, Shiro… do not mind my babble.. I-"

Komashiro shook his head. " It is alright my friend. I know you are hurting…"

Sighing, Yumemaru sat on her bed. " Shiro… how long is he to stay?"

Komashiro smiled and sat down beside her. " a month before the banquet 'till the banquet."

She faced him. " That brings up my question: why hold a banquet for a woman who may very well be an imposter?"

Komashiro stood and faced Yumemaru. He pulled out a small cloth from his pocket, and in another, he took out a small jade bracelet. " Because, Yume… I miss Kagome as much as Kouga does, and… I still hope that one day she will be back to reclaim these items."

Yumemaru took the cloth in her hand and noticed the elegant embroidery. " I remember when I taught her how to embroider… she took to it well."

Komashiro nodded proudly. " I remember it as well. You teased Ayame so much because Kagome could do better than even she could… and how proudly Ayame showed it to me… how proud she was of our child"

Yumemaru gently folded the cloth and placed it back in her friend's hand. " For your sake and mine, as well as Ayame… I do wish that Kouga has found Kagome… I truly do."

Smiling, Komashiro nodded. " So… I take it you agree to your son coming here?"

Yumemaru glared but sighed. " Might as well… I only hope he does not hate me"

"If your son takes after you, I am sure he hates that woman much more than he does you"

==================================

SesshouMaru growled for the hundredth time. He was growing impatient and needed something to hunt. But with Jaken gone and Rin left alone, he had no choice but to stay and keep the castle well protected. Even though not many youkais dared to go through the Western lands, there were still the matter of Soul stealers who didn't count as youkais but more of drones that could travel a thousand miles from their masters.

He turned away from his desk and paced through his study and found a scroll that seemed to have eluded his senses. It looked old and torn, as he opened it, he smelled his mother's scent all over the parchment.

'Interesting… it seems to have been a letter… directed at… my father?'

__

InuTaisho, I assume you have not even noticed the lack of my presence. I see the logic in taking your friend to create your precious heir so that you can have the freedom to find your other half. Although, I fail to see the logic in just stripping off her title and taking a ningen as the queen of the western lands! I presume you now know of which I speak of. I shall be taking refuge with Ayame-sama. Do not even bother to come follow me. But then again, you were never one to care of my welfare. Nonetheless, you are making the biggest mistake of your life! You may not know it yet, but once that hanyou gets of age, do you think he will honor you like SesshouMaru does? No. And would you like to know why? Because that hanyou is destined to lead a life of which even his trollop of a mother has so selfishly brought him to…

SesshouMaru chuckled. 'Mother did have such… nice… vocabulary'

He was about to place the scroll back when he re read a line. ' …Ayame-sama…'

His frustration gone, he frantically searched for scrolls of royal families. After finding a rather large scroll from his father's library, he began to search.

'Ayame, daughter of Ryuma of the Inu clan, mated to Lord Komashiro of the Koma clan…' SesshouMaru's eyes widened and he backed away from the parchment.

'Okasan's alive… I… Otousan said… she… she died'

Angry tears blurred his vision as he clenched his fists. 'That ningen made him do this… yes… that bakayaro hanyou's mother did this… he will pay **HE WILL PAY**'

More bitterness for the hanyou coursed through his veins. Nothing would stand in the way of his revenge. Once he finds his mother once more, InuYasha would pay dearly for what his ningen mother did.

"SESSHOUMARU-SAMA!"

Wiping the tears from his eyes and placing his mask back on, he faced a red faced Rin.

" What is it?" he asked.

" ITS JAKEN-SAMA! HE'S BACK!"

SesshouMaru smiled slightly at the child's enthusiasm. " Go and greet him, then tell him to come here"

======================================

Kagome stared in awe at the castle that she stood in. It was beautiful. It was not as dreary as she thought it would be.

" I had vowed I would get you back to my home someday, but I never thought that meant getting my sister back!" Kouga said humorously.

Kagome chuckled and nodded. " So… when do I meet the family?"

Kouga stopped and turned around. "Well… see, here's the thing. Otousan is busy with affairs right now and the only person you will meet for the next months is well, Lady Yumemaru"

"Yume…maru?"

"Hello."

Kagome turned around and gasped. The woman looked so much like SesshouMaru. Her markings were visible and they were the mirror image of the western lord's markings down to the mark on her forehead.

"H-hello" Kagome said finally. " I…I'm sorry for asking but… are you in any way related to SesshouMaru?"

Yumemaru seemed shocked at her question but answered anyway. " yes… I do not know whether I should be happy or not that you seem to know my son at such an informal way"

Kagome blushed and shook her head violently. " No, no… I used to travel with his half-brother… and he has tried to kill me numerous times but… it was the markings… oh, look at me… where are my manners! My name is Kagome Higurashi, I am very pleased to meet you"

Yumemaru gasped. " K-kagome you say?"

Kagome nodded politely. " Although I am still fazed by Kouga-oniisan's news, I think I remember my own name."

" I apologize if I may seem brash but, you surely must jest!" Yumemaru stammered struggling not to break down and cry. " Kouga, tell me this is just a lark!"

Kouga shook his head in confusion. "No, lady Yumemaru… this is Kagome. My sister. I finally found her!"

" Excuse me, I do not feel well… Yuki!" Yumemaru said. A young vixen came and bowed. " Show Kagome to her room."

Kouga followed Yuki and Kagome dragged her feet. 'What did I say? Did I offend her or something? Maybe coming here was a mistake…'

==================================

****

Author's Note: wow… thank you so much for all the reviews! Unfortunately, I have no time to answer everyone's questions but hopefully I answered a few in the story itself. 

****

Also, thank you to night kid who told me about the spelling error I made with musuko (my son). And I hope this chapter answers your question Mistress Fluffy.


	15. A little talk

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: hey everyone! I hope you had a good holiday! Lol anyways, here's the next chapter!

****

Disclaimer's Note: You **STILL** think I own InuYasha?! What are you? Delirious with fever?

===========================

Kagome was silent throughout the way to her assigned chambers. Well she couldn't call them rooms now could she? This was a castle after all. As she stepped in, Kouga left her in there with Shippou, who surprisingly was still asleep in her arms.

'He must have been tired'

She laid him down on the enormous bed and looked around. She was amazed at the size and the décor of the 'room'. You could easily fit six cars in the space provided. It was beautifully furnished and the color scheme of the room matched her room perfectly. The curtains were a light shade of metallic green, and the bedding was a nice pine green. 

'Its as if the person who decorated it knew my favorite color…'

There were two windows each on either side of the bed. Beside one was a comfortable looking chair, which was perfect to watch the garden down below. The other was right beside her vanity. She decided to look at the closet and found rows upon rows of kimonos and battle armor.

'Armor? Why would I have any need to wear armor?'

"Kagome?"

She turned around and found a groggy Shippou. 

" Good morning sleepy-head," she said as she gave him a light hug. " Did you sleep well?"

Shippou nodded and after blinking for what seemed like the hundredth time, he looked around and his jaw dropped.

" Wow… whose room are we in?"

Before Kagome could answer, there was a knock on the door. As it opened, it revealed a regal woman.

" Lady Yumemaru… what brings you here?" Kagome asked bowing her head.

Catching a guilty look from the woman, she shook her head. " Please, don't bow… I should be bowing to you, Lady Kagome… I came to apologize for how I reacted this morning… that was uncalled for."

Shippou cocked his head to the side. " Y'know… you look a lot like InuYasha's half-brother SesshouMaru…"

Yumemaru smiled at the kit and patted his head. " I see you've encountered that… abomination… and my son"

"Y-you… son?" Shippou stammered and hid behind Kagome. " Okasan… she might be dangerous… she-"

Kagome laughed and took the kit in her arms and gave him a comforting hug. " Oh its alright Shippou, Lady Yumemaru means no harm."

'I see my son has not been a gentleman. No doubt that InuTaisho's fault… he probably made his associate with that… that… hanyou' Yumemaru thought with disgust. 

Normally she wouldn't think such lowly thoughts of anything or anyone, but anything that had to do with that gold digging ningen… she just felt a need for it. If _Lady_ Leiko had not stolen her husband and her territory, she was sure she and SesshouMaru as well as InuTaisho would be sitting in front of a table enjoying each other's presence.

" By the way, Lady Kagome… I believe it is due time we take a tour of the castle," she said. ' Maybe I can find out more about you… how much you look like Ayame…'

============================================

Kouga stomped off to find his father, and just as he had expected, he was in the study.

" Otousan… why have you not made yourself known? Kagome is here in the castle…"

Kouga stopped talking when he saw his father's face darken and rose from behind his table. 

" Kouga… I think it is high time I told you about your sister…"

At this, Kouga stood. " What is there to tell? My sister is in her room with her adopted kit! And she wants to know if she can meet the rest of what's left of the family!"

Komashiro was stunned. Kouga had been the one most hurt during the battle. It was his adoption ceremony that had been interrupted, his mother was slain and his sister had to be taken away from him. Komashiro had thought he suffered, but seeing Kouga's reaction… he knew Kouga had to have been the one to take most of it.

" I have tried to find her for so long, Otousan… please. I know… I know that it seems unlikely that Kagome is my sister… but she has the mark to prove it!" Kouga said desperately. "She-she has the mark…"

Komashiro sighed. " Kouga… you and I both know many have tried and many had shown that same mark…"

"But she didn't know and she didn't show it to me on purpose!" Kouga said. " I stumbled upon her as she was relaxing at the hot springs and I saw her mark!"

Just then, the doors opened and revealed a stoic-expression on a well built youkai.

"Well hello there, young SesshouMaru… I did not know that I would be expecting you at such an early time," Komashiro said.

There was silence and after a few moments, the expressionless façade that SesshouMaru had on disappeared and was replaced by one of desperation, confusion and nervousness. (~~ KINDA OOC AINT IT?)

" Where is my mother?"

==================================

SesshouMaru sped up, not caring that Rin and Jaken were trying hard to follow. After hearing Rin stumble and whimper, he stopped and looked back. Picking the girl up, he comforted her slightly and set off.

"Jaken, return to the castle and keep things well for me back there. I will take Rin with me."

Jaken seemed surprised, but complied. 'I hope SesshouMaru-sama finds Lady Yumemaru… and I hope she does not get mad once she sees him. I have after all made a promise and I have kept it well…'

He seemed agitated, and Rin sensed this, and settled down. She made herself comfortable and went to sleep. SesshouMaru seemed thankful that the child did not ask any questions, but that left himself to annoy.

'What am I going to say to her?'

__

Hello

'Not that you dunce! I mean… what do I say after 60 years of being away from her?'

__

Are you deaf? I said HELLO

Growling at himself, he saw the majestic castle ahead and slowed his pace. He wanted people to sense him, but for some reason… they did not.

'Hmmm something or someone must be here…'

His thoughts were cut short as he smelled **her** presence.

'My half-brother's wench? Here? Interesting…'

The doors opened and the servants scrambled as he went through the doors and strode towards the study where he smelled Lord Komashiro's scent.

"M'lord… you cannot go in there…"

'Too late' he thought.

As he opened the doors, the previous conversation that the youkai was having was put to a halt. SesshouMaru seemed surprised. 'Its that youkai that was with that woman…'

Lord Komashiro seemed to have said something to him, but he was too deep into his thoughts to hear it.

"Where is my mother?"

===================================

Kouga stiffened. He knew Lady Yumemaru had a royal son, but he had no idea that her son was the Great Lord of the Western lands. Not to mention that baka's half-brother. He did what any person would.

"Huh?!"

(^-^)

"Kouga, I think it is best you left us alone for now. We shall continue our conversation later," Komashiro said. " Think of what I said back there."

Kouga nodded numbly and complied, leaving the two lords in the study.

" So why are you here so early, young one?" Komashiro asked. He had practically known SesshouMaru since he was a pup! There was no way he would be formal with the pup.

" Komashiro-san… I found a scroll-"

They were interrupted by Rin's yawn. Komashiro looked at him with disbelief. 

"SesshouMaru… is that what I think it is?" he asked." A human child?"

SesshouMaru had no idea what to do. His father's best friend, Lord Komashiro was staring at him as if he grew another head. The little bundle in his arms was waking up and he had no intention of dropping her.  
  
" I had no idea you had taken such a ... young ningen as a mate... SesshouMaru."  
  
Feeling a blush rise to his cheeks, he stared at Komashiro as if he was delusional.  
  
" Rin is not my mate. She is... my daughter," he said slowly, watching the older youkai's expression carefully. 

"I had heard you travelled with a human Sesshou, but I had no idea you had adopted her."  
  
SesshouMaru nodded and smiled as Rin opened her eyes. Komashiro did so as well.  
  
" Hello there young one," he said gently. " Would you like to go play with my son? I believe they are in the gardens right now."  
  
Rin's brown eyes sparkled with happiness as she nodded. " Hai... um..." she looked up to her 'father'. Her eyes asking him for approval.  
  
" You may go. Wait for a servant and tell her to lead you to the gardens," SesshouMaru said.  
  
Nodding, she ran off leaving the two youkais to watch the stop where she had been earlier.  
  
" They?"  
  
Komashiro's gaze fell back on SesshouMaru's and he sighed. He seemed to be doing that lately.  
  
" My son has brought back a woman that he believes is his long lost sister." 

"But did you not send me an invitation for her banquet three months from now?" SesshouMaru asked letting go of his façade.  
  
"Hai, I did. Although I did so to humor the lad," he said as he sat down. "Please, sit."  
  
SesshouMaru did so and waited for the man to continue. 

" You see SesshouMaru, if my daughter was indeed alive, she would have come back once she turned 18… although as you can tell… its been far longer than that…" 

Komashiro stood and walked towards the window overlooking the gardens. 

"So why not tell the pup?" he asked casually. " I mean, surely he must understand…"

Komashiro nodded. " That he does… it is just tough for the lad to merely let go after all, he believes that the woman he brought home is his sister."

Komashiro sensed another youkai about to enter and smirked. 'Well, I told her it would be now or never…'

The doors burst open and a frantic youkai came in.

"Shiro! I sensed him! I sens-"

She stopped as her gaze fell on SesshouMaru. His golden eyes were wide and it was clear he was confused and upset. 

" Okasan…"

=======================================

****

Author's Note Okay, so maybe I am cruel… kind of. I wanted to say thank you for all the reviews I've received, but sadly I wont be able to update 2 chapters a day. I have homework and such to do! I'm only 15! Heck to top it all off, school is about to end in 2 months, meaning exams are not that far off! I have to study and such! So sorry Kat… but I will update regularly so I hope that's better than nothing!


	16. The Plot Thickens

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hello again people! Thank you so much for the continued support and I hope you guys enjoy it so far! A question came to mind when my friends were reading this: "how long is this thing going to be?" and all I said was: " Quite long". Actually, I was hoping this story could turn out to be longer than ChibiMamoru, without the additional author's notes.

Disclaimer's Note: ARE YOU BLIND?! I ALREADY SAID I DIDN'T OWN INUYASHA AND CO!!!

==============================

Kagome walked in the gardens with Shippou and taking in everything that had happened. Lady Yumemaru had been with them but she excused herself quickly and left without so much a word. She looked at the castle as she let Shippou run off to chase a butterfly. The castle was majestic and tall. She could see a faint lavender colored bubble encase it.

'it's a shield' she thought. 'Oji-san told me about these, if mikos concentrated long enough, they could create a barrier around their bodies instantly purifying anything that touches it.'

She unconsciously began to wonder how they were faring. 'Mama… Souta… Jii-san I miss you all so much. I wonder why the well would not let me pass this time?'

She felt another's presence nearby and decided to look down to find Rin standing in front of her catching her breath.

"Kagome-oneesan!" she cried happily as she ran to give Kagome a hug. " Rin… **I** did not know you would be here! SesshouMaru-sama did not tell Rin… er… **me** why we were coming."

Kagome stiffened a little. " Did you tell SesshouMaru-sama that I was there at his castle?"

Rin shook her head. Kagome released the breath she had been holding back. "Thank you Rin."

"Okasan? Who is that?"

Kagome faced a now frowning Shippou. 'Jealous pup' Kagome giggled inwardly as she scooped him up and faced Rin.

" Rin-chan this is Shippou-chan, my pup," Kagome said. "Shippou-chan, that is Rin-chan. She travels with Lord SesshouMaru."

Shippou leapt from Kagome's arms and examined her. 

" But you're a ningen… I didn't know Sesshoumaru traveled with ningens."

Kagome laughed and took both of their hands in hers. " Let's forget about ningens and youkais shall we, and lets just enjoy the garden."

Kagome was thankful for the break from herself and watched the children laugh and play as they ran around the gardens chasing butterflies and playing tag.

=====================================

SesshouMaru could not be any happier. After so many years of hiding his emotions and being cold and lifeless, his face showed happiness. His eyes twinkled with childish laughter and he was harboring a genuine smile.

He was looking for Rin to inform her of their stay when he realized the presence of another youkai in the garden.

' Its that wench again… but she's not a ningen…'

He crept up behind her and inhaled her scent. ' Lavender and lilacs…'

Suddenly, she turned around and her eyes widened. He smirked at her as she backed away slowly.

" S-sesshouMaru!"

He lifted his left eyebrow but let it go. Somehow, he could not picture himself enjoying her saying his name with otherwise.

He then lifted his mother's necklace from his kimono and dangled it in front of her face.

" Recognize this?" he asked.

He watched as she smiled and her fear of him dissipated to nothing as soon as she saw the pendant.

" My necklace! I tried to find it… but… Where did you find it? Thank you!" 

She was about to grab it, when SesshouMaru pulled it away from her reach, making her frown. ' She looks adorable when she frowns although she looks more beautiful when she smiles… **what am I thinking?!**' Shaking his head violently, he woke up to the task at hand.

" Before I give it …back… where did **you** acquire it?"

He watched as the woman stopped and started thinking. Then he saw her sag and shrug.

" I'm not sure, to tell you the truth… I've had it for a long time… I have never taken it off," she started. " A friend of mine gave it to me so long ago that I forgot him…" she continued with a softer tone.

SesshouMaru looked at her. 'She cannot possibly be that same little girl… she looks no older than 18 maybe 19… that little girl would have been my age by now!'

He watched as she knelt down and stared at a flower. Sighing, he knelt one leg and lifted her chin up with his hand forcing her to look into his eyes.

" Onna… when I was younger, I gave a this necklace to a little girl because she was crying and needed comfort. I will not ask again, where did you acquire it?" 

" I already told you, besides, there could be many necklaces that look like that!" she said.

" Iie… because this was my mother's. Its enchanted. My grandfather kept a bond with my grandmother because of said necklace… this is the same one," SesshouMaru said. " Now… if you were that little girl… why is it that you were human when you traveled with my pathetic excuse for a youkai brother?"

He examined her features carefully. He remembered a conversation he heard with his brother and his ningen companion.

__

"Kagome is nothing to me!" InuYasha yelled.

He growled as the not-so-bald monk stepped forward and laid his right hand on his shoulder

"Look, InuYasha… if you did not care so for Lady Kagome… then why are you so worried for her welfare? Why do you always protect her from harm, my friend… indeed you care for her"

"I care because she looks like Kikyou! She **Is** her reincarnate you know! I feel like I'm obligated to protect her! I failed protecting Kikyou!"

' Truly that Hanyou is blind' SesshouMaru thought. ' that corpse looks nothing like Kagome…' 

He stared into her bluish gray eyes and memorized every feature of her face. The stripes on her cheeks, her pointed ears. 

'Captivating… Wait a minute… did **I** SesshouMaru, Lord of the Western Lands think a mere onna is **CAPTIVATING**?' disgusted with himself, he let go of Kagome's chin.

======================================

Kagome's heart stopped beating. Not literally of course, but it was close to stopping. She was staring into his golden-amber eyes. She wanted to tell him everything. Her life, how she was with InuYasha, how he betrayed her… everything. 

Suddenly, he cut off the link and let go of her chin. He stood up and she followed suit.

"My patience grows thin," he said monotonously, his mask back on. 

Kagome opened her mouth to answer, when Rin and Shippou ran towards them laughing as if they had been friends their whole lives.

" Okasan! Okasan! We caught a butterfly!" Shippou said as he unclasped his paws and showed Kagome the beautiful blue insect.

Kagome smiled sweetly and gave Shippou and kiss, unknown to her that SesshouMaru was watching the scene and that he was looking at **his** own adopted child, who had a look of longing and jealousy in her eyes.

" Rin, what is the matter?" SesshouMaru asked. " Are you hungry?"

Rin shook her head. " Iie… SesshouMaru-sama… when can Rin… er **I** have an Okaasan?"

SesshouMaru was shocked, but he did not show it. This was not the first time Rin asked that question, but it was the first time she said it with such longing directed at a specific female.

" Rin-"

" Lord SesshouMaru, Lady Kagome, lunch is ready."

SesshouMaru and Kagome both stopped what they were doing and followed the servant that gracefully walked back into the castle with two running children behind her. 

'I should probably take a bath first…'

" Lady Kagome, if you wish to take a bath, I shall prepare one for you," said another servant. Kagome was not shocked that the youkai heard her, but then again, she wasn't shocked by anything now. " If you wish, I can call Shippou-chan as well."

Kagome nodded and smiled. " Thank you Miyuki-san. A bath for me and Shippou would be great."

=================================

Komashiro walked towards the hot-springs he could always feel calmer around the pools of water. 'Ayame did love these springs…'

" Shippou, don't tell me you're **still** afraid of these springs?" a melodic voice said.

Komashiro decided to investigate and took a sharp breath. It was the onna that Kouga had brought back, the one he claimed to be his sister. She did look like his wife. That she did, and sounded like her too… Then, suddenly, she flipped her hair to the other side and he gasped at what he saw.

Most of the youkais impersonating his daughter often let the act go once they thought they were being watched. But there it was! On her shoulder, as plain as day, the family insignia… the silver diamond.

' Kami-sama… my Kagome… she truly has returned!'

Without saying a word, he went back into the castle and went off in search for Yumemaru. Training and lessons must begin… that and their meetings. After almost half a century of not seeing his daughter, he missed her terribly. 

' I shall never let her out of my sight again! Naraku has made the mistake of crossing my path and killing my friends and family… but he will never get his hands on my daughter ever again!'

==================================

The wind blew harshly against InuYasha's form. Hugging the Tetsusaiga as he crossed his arms, he closed his eyes and let his anger wash through him. After being with Kikyou for so long… he finally realized his mistake. Kagome and Kikyou were not alike at all. 

'How many times have I told myself that Kagome was just a reincarnation? How could I have mistaken those auras? Their eyes? Their personlity! How could I have been so **stupid**?!'

__

It matters not, you can have them both…

' I don't want BOTH! I want Kagome!'

He smelled the scent of bones and dirt. He inhaled and again crushed the need to spill out his lunch.

" InuYasha… come here, will you?"

Feeling that old sense of obligation, he complied, suddenly Kikyou laid a necklace on him.

" What the hell is this?!"

" It seems fitting, InuYasha. After all… that imposter gave you one," she said icily. " Come"

InuYasha felt his limbs moving on their own. " What the hell did you do to me?!"

Kikyou smiled cruelly. 'Now its my turn. You are mine, InuYasha. Mine and Mine only!'

=======================================

****

Author's Note: Okay so maybe I just like cliffhangers too much! But I hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter will be considerably longer… so I hope you'll enjoy that one too!


	17. The Scroll

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hey all! Kai19 had this really great suggestion and it was really cool… but unfortunately, I had already updated my chapter before I had the chance to read his review… -_- I really liked his suggestion too… well I hope you enjoy this next chapter

Disclaimer's Note: GR… I think I better call those attack dogs…

=========================

Kouga waited patiently in his father's study. After sensing Lady Yumemaru and her son leave to catch up on old times, he slowly made his way back to one place his father went to. His sanctuary from the painful memories, from the battles and from the outside world. Lady Ayame had once said that every person had a sanctuary. His was his lair out in the mountains, deep within an underground cave. His father's was his study. 

He decided to skip lunch and ambush his father to answering his questions. First his father was questioning his ability to know the difference between a copy and his sister, and now SesshouMaru shows up to complicate things. He just could not understand what was going on. 

True, it was strange that Kagome chose now to reveal her true bloodline, yet it was as if it was planned. He had not thought of his sister whenever he was with her… so why did Kagome remind him of his sister that one particular day?

He made himself comfortable as he grabbed one of the scrolls his father had recently made which informed him on the political issues of the North Western lord.

'Hello… what's this?'

He saw a stray scroll that seemed to look older than the rest of them. From the looks of it, the parchment had either been dropped during a war, or whomever the messenger was had been injured. His eyes widened as he read the content of the scroll.

'Shimatta… does Otousan know this scroll is here?!' He skimmed through it once more and growled. 'All these years… so she's the one…' He clenched his fists around the scroll protectively. 

He shook his head to try and clear the jumbled thoughts and piece them together. He took off the two shards from his legs and placed them on his palm. ' So are these from the real one? Or the second Shikon?'

He started wishing that Ayame-sama was still alive to help him with his frustrations.

__

A real youkai of nobility does not stoop to false strength

He opened his eyes and nodded. 'Hai, Okasan… I need not these shards to protect my clan… its time to train. How can I be the next lord of the North Western lands if I keep on relying on these?'

He nodded as a sign of finality and placed the shards inside his kimono. 'I'll give you to Kagome-chan in when I see her'

================================

Komashiro was grinning like a fool. Yumemaru was slightly afraid that his sanity had run out, but the spark in his eyes told her that she no longer needed to convince Komashiro of his daughter's authenticity.

He waited patiently until his two 'guests' arrived. He stood and smiled at the woman that his son had brought back. His daughter.

" Kagome, welcome back home, my child."

The girl seemed shocked. And she smiled uneasily.

" Um… how do you know my name?"

Komashiro frowned. ' She doesn't know my name?'

Yumemaru decided at that point to intervene. 'If I don't explain now, Shiro might doubt his conclusion…'

" Well, Kagome-chan. This is your father, of course he would know your name," she said. " Although I presume you were in your time for so long that…"

" I thought I was dreaming about the whole thing…" Kagome said cutting her off. " Mama said that I was dreaming… I-I was sent to many doctors and stuff… they said that I must have been traumatized when papa diesd and dreamt up the whole thing about me having an oniisan and that my otousan was alive."

There was an uncomfortable silence, but SesshouMaru cleared his throat loudly and broke the spell.

" Well, let's eat shall we?" Yumemaru suggested. " Where is Kouga-kun?"

Kagome looked around and found Shippou and Rin seated, both on each side of her and SesshouMaru beside Rin. Yumemaru smiled inwardly as she saw the slight blush in Kagome's cheeks and saw her son's equally flushed face.

' Interesting… I may be able to get rid of this crescent on my forehead much sooner than I thought!'

===========================

Kouga watched as his father sat down on his chair behind his study table.

" You were not present at lunch… why was that?" he asked.

" I want you to answer my questions, father… I have been kept in the dark for so long and I want some light shed on the matter," Kouga said strongly hiding the scroll from his father on purpose. " I wish to know of the truth in your actions when you informed me of my sister's location… it was a couple of hundred miles away from where I found Kagome…"

Komashiro sighed. " Kouga, sit down." He said as he rubbed his temple. " I do not doubt now that Kagome Is in fact your sister… although, it disturbs me of her age…"

" Do not stray from the subject at hand… why did you give me such information, to keep me from my sister? Was it really you who wanted her away from the family, or did InuTaisho take her? What is the truth?!" Kouga demanded.

" I was not in the right mind, my son," Komashiro started. " Being Kazutoshi Komashiro, the lord of the North-Western lands does not help my sanity anymore than my mate dying and my daughter being taken away from me by my own bestfriend!" 

Kouga silenced himself and sat down. 

" Thank you. Now, do not mistake my words Kouga… I have tried to find Kagome-chan. I started to search of her location fourteen years after her disappearance! InuTaisho had placed her with a ningen family to protecter her, but he never had the chance to give us details before his murder," Komashiro said facing the window and watched as birds fluttered by. " I was about to lose hope and I was going to drop the search after so many years… She should have showed up sooner…"

"But, Kagome is turning 18. In three months"

Komashiro faced Kouga. " In three months? At the time of the banquet?"

Kouga nodded. 

" Now queer. This makes me wonder what else InuTaisho did… I trust him fully, but…" shaking his head he sighed. " Anyway, at the time I gave you of a young miko's location, I had believed the youkai was your sister. She fit the description! Although, unfortunately, she was already mated and has many pups… but still! I had believed that the girl was indeed your sister!"

Kouga shook his head and laughed. " So… what now?"

" Well, we train Kagome. She needs to know of our ways before she turns 18."

Kouga felt the scroll inside his kimono and sighed. " Why was Kagome taken from us anyway?"

He felt his father tense and turn around. " Ah, its very complicated… truth is, only Ayame and InuTaisho really knew…" he said. " Yumemaru found out from InuTaisho, but has told me that the need for me to know would not arise until she returns…"

Kouga nodded. 'So you were kept from it as well? Well… its seems I should take a visit to Lady Yumemaru's chambers today'

================================

Yumemaru brushed her long white hair and placed it up in a bun. It was more effective this way, to look as she did all those years back. SesshouMaru had been ecstatic when he found her, but was unnerved when he saw her appearance.

She vowed to change and to be happier now. InuTaisho had paid for his mistake… but she would not lose her son for her foolishness. SesshouMaru was ready to forgive her, and all that was left was to catch up. 

As she neared his chambers, she overheard a small conversation he had with his 'daughter'.

" Rin, why do you seem so forlorn?" 

" for-forlorn?"

Yumemaru giggled slightly. ' SesshouMaru needs to be taught that ningen children do not have that high of a vocabulary'

She heard him sigh, signaling his knowledge of his mistake.

" Sad. Why are you so sad?"

There was a slight silence and Yumemaru felt the little girl's discomfort.

" I want an okasan… please do not hate Rin…"

'Hate her? Sesshou would hate that little girl for wanting a mother?' Yumemaru shook her head. ' InuTaisho's little tramp must have filled his head with nonsense!'

" Rin, I could not hate you for that," he heard her son's low voice. " In fact, I totally agree with you. It is high time that I find a mate… and a mother for you"

" Can it be Kagome-oneechan?"

Yumemaru chuckled, then froze. The door opened and she now faced her son's slightly amused face.

" Hello mother, would you like to come in, instead of spying?"

Yumemaru smiled and nodded. " Hai."

Maybe she could help him get what his little girl wanted. ' If he has my necklace… then it should not be hard at all!'

================================

InuYasha growled slightly. 'That wench! ' He felt his control over his body slip away as he stood still. Kikyou walked over to him haughtily.

"Now, once you're free of that… copy, you and I will finally be able to live together."

She pulled off the rosary and InuYasha felt helpless and empty.

'Kagome…' He felt as if her essence had left her and that he was alone. The new beads hanging from his neck felt heavy and overbearing. As if the spell itself was something unimaginably cruel and would cause him pain.

"Just what is this?!" he asked as he pulled on the black string of beads and bones. 

" It bonds us together, InuYasha."

"We're f*cking mates, isn't that enough!?"

Kikyou smiled once more. " Come."

InuYasha felt his control over her body leaving and he felt his legs moving on their own. 'I-I…I'm being treated like… like a f*cking pet!'

Kikyou placed her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. She heard him growl and she chuckled.

" I said it before, InuYasha… you're mine. I won't share you with anyone." 

With that, she summoned her soul stealers, climbed on top of InuYasha's back and told him to go to Kaede's village.

'Kami… I hope I survive through this…' InuYasha thought.

But all the time hoping that Kikyou would not make him to anything to Kagome. 'Please be safe'

===========================

****

Author's Note: Wow! I cannot believe how many people reviewed! Thank you very much! 

Question: Why do you like Inu/Kag fics more than Sess/kag? 

Answer: I don't. I like em both very much… but I prefer Inu/Kag when it comes to the manga. Rumiko Takahashi-san did a great job!

Question: are you going to put lime/lemon on this story?

Answer: 0.0 I never even thought of that yet… besides its PG-13! ^-^;; I have NO experience at that whatsoever… maybe just a hint of it… but nothing serious…

Question: (I really love this one!) Are you related to SesshouMaru?

Answer: I wish! Lol no, I'm just really cruel and I love cliffies… when _I_ am the one making it… v_v I know… im hopeless!

Author's Note2: have you guys read Turnabout is Fair play by Ookami-chan?! Its amazing! T-T I hope my story will end up being as good…


	18. Sparks

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hey all! Thank you so much for all the reviews! I really appreciate it! 

Disclaimer's Note: IT'S THE MOTHMAN! ~~ Sorry that was uncalled for! EW!!!! ^_^ lol! I don't own InuYasha and co.

Special Thanks to: Sticks for informing me of a few things. I honestly did not know that Maru is usually added to a male. I mean, my mom has this thing that she wants all her children to have at least a portion of her name in it, therefore creating my brother's and my name. So I just thought that SesshouMaru's mom should have a Maru in his name. But thank you for that, it will help for future stories

Author's Note2: I will start from now on to try and answer people's questions or reviews in these or in the story itself. 

========================

Kagome silently wandered through the castle as Shippou and Rin played together. She didn't feel the least bit jealous that her 'son's' attention was more on Rin than on her. She had gotten used to walking around in a kimono rather than her short school uniform. 

'Why was it that I always wore them? Its not like my teachers would pop up and give me detention for not wearing proper school clothes on a school day…'

The truth was, Kagome hated being associated with Kikyou. Looking like her was bad enough but to dress like her to fit in, that was just pushing it. But, now that she learned of her true heritage, she didn't feel bothered to wear the multi-layered clothes.

'In fact… they feel comfortable'

It had been more than four days since she attempted to go through the bone eater's well. She was still as confused then as she was now. Why didn't it work? 

As she silently passed by her father's study and found him asleep on his chair. It was a bit cold in the room, so she went to her room and took one of the warm blankets lay on the bed. She quickly returned to her father's study and placed the blanket of him, causing him to stir in his sleep.

She smiled and turned around, only to bump into something soft, and tall. She looked up and smiled.

" What are you doing?"

" Nothing fluffy-sama… I just thought Otousan might be cold."

With that, she walked on around him and went off to find Lady Yumemaru, leaving a stunned SesshouMaru standing in the middle of the study with a smirk on his face.

" You know, it would be more efficient if you just talked to her, instead of bumping into her everyday"

He turned around and saw Komashiro smirking and stretching in his chair.

" How long have you been awake?" SesshouMaru asked.

" Long enough. Tomorrow, Kagome begins her training…" 

" For what?" SesshouMaru asked. " I mean, she is already skilled with the bow… although the sword would be the more logical weapon…"

" You know… but no, Kagome-chan needs to be trained on how to be a proper lady. Not to mention a proper mother," Komashiro said. " That kit of hers has not been adopted in our ways… any youkai can slay him by accident… which could become a possible war…"

SesshouMaru chuckled and shook his head. " Shiro-san, you really do have an imagination…"

=================================

Shippou sighed. Rin was taking her nap and he felt the need to hunt. But he knew better than to leave the castle grounds. Though he and Kagome had not been in the castle for more than four days, he knew from the servants that youkai hid in the forest waiting for a victim. It seemed something had happened 60 years ago for them to wait for something. Or someone. 

He sensed Kagome's aura and ran towards her.

" Okasan!"

Kagome laughed and hugged the kitsune. 

" So, where's Rin?" she asked. " Its highly unusual to see you alone…"

Shippou smiled sadly. " Rin's taking a nap. Humans have low endurance…"

Kagome nodded in agreement. She remembered how fast it took her energy to be drained just by walking with InuYasha. 'But then that jerk does that on purpose…'

Shippou took her hand and they walked around the castle until they ended up in the ballroom. It was magnificent and huge! Kagome had never seen a room that could easily fit her Jii-san's shrine inside it.

" Lady Kagome… what brings you here?"

She turned around and smiled as she saw Lady Yumemaru with a soft smile on her face.

" Hello, sorry to intrude… um, Otousan said that my lessons start tomorrow… but I fear I have nothing to do until then…" Kagome said.

Yumemaru smiled and nodded. 'How beautiful and elegant she looks in a kimono… I wonder how long until SesshouMaru loses control?'

"Well then, why don't we start now?" she asked. " It's not a big deal really… do you have a particular question about youkai traditions?"

Kagome nodded and glanced at her curious Shippou. " Adoption. I'd like to know if there is anything different with youkai adoptions…"

Shippou's ears twitched as he strained to hear their conversation. 'Yes… if Okasan finds out about the ceremony… I might truly become her child!'

Then, a light knock was head and a small figure came inside. 

" Sorry to intrude, but SesshouMaru-sama's little girl is in need of you young Shippou," she said. 

Shippou sighed. 'Mou… I hate it when things like this happen!'

He slowly made his way out the huge doors and off to SesshouMaru and Rin's chambers. Kagome felt slightly relieved that Shippou was gone. It was hard to talk about adopting him when he was right there… somehow she wanted it to be special, like a gift to him, and she didn't want him to feel as if he was some kind of a responsibility to her…

" I take it you wish to adopt the kit in the proper way?" Yumemaru asked.

Kagome nodded as she hung her head. " I've been meaning to ask InuYasha, but he never gives me the time of day."

" Good thing," Yumemaru said as she scoffed. " I'd be surprised if that particular Hanyou even **knew** anything about inuyoukai laws…"

Kagome was silent. Four days of getting used to her hearing, and four days of overhearing conversations lead to the big picture. She knew that InuYasha's mother wasn't the saint that he had proclaimed her to be. In fact… she had been quite the opposite. 

'No wonder Sesshie feels that way about the jerk… **SESSHIE**?! Where did **THAT** come from?!'

Yumemaru chuckled inwardly. She knew that Kagome had been hearing every conversation she had with Komashiro and having psychic abilities never amused her more than now.

' Well this certainly makes my job easier…'

"Anyway, adoption is quite easy, although it has to be performed at night," Yumemaru said. " The night is very precious to youkais. We value tradition and the night is when youkais are usually more alert. Unlike ningens, we do not sleep at night, nor do we need to sleep every night."

" So, how is the tradition performed?" Kagome asked. " I mean… if possible could we perform it tonight? Just the family…"

Yumemaru nodded. " Adoption is very sacred, it is like giving birth! A family only thing. The closest relatives, the closest friends, those who will likely become attached to the kit, youkai who you trust… There would be a ceremony performed that would allow you and your kit to bond and have a blood link."

Kagome nodded but said nothing. She knew what a blood link was. InuYasha had once told her that a blood link, was a special link that connected two people through their blood. Youkais would be able to sense that a person with the blood link is connected to the other, just by sniffing them. 

" So, once connected with the blood link, you could sense whether your kit is in danger or not. If he's happy or sad. Other youkai could sense whose pup he was, that sort of thing." Yumemaru said. "And as for today… well, we'd have to wait until you can perform the ceremony dear… its very tiring and you need to do it once and it has to be perfected." 

Kagome then nodded. She noticed Lady Yumemaru standing and decided to ask the question she had been so adamant on getting answered. " Um… what about… mating?"

Yumemaru stopped and turned around. She sat back down and faced Kagome. " Why, I had no idea… Lady Kagome who is this young lad you wish to…"

Kagome then turned bright pink and shook her head. " No! I was… j-just curious and… well.. I.."

Yumemaru smiled. " Do not worry young one. We shall talk of this later. Now, you go and prepare young Shippou! I shall go and inform your father."

===================================

SesshouMaru watched as the children played a game of which they chased each other around the gardens. He recalled the conversation he had with Rin almost four days ago. How she wanted a mother… and specifically she wanted Kagome! His brother's… No, he thought. That wasn't right. His brother did not deserve a woman such as Kagome. None would be right for her.

__

None but you, you mean

'Oh shut up'

__

Admit it… you had your eyes on her since she wielded the Tetsusaiga from your father's grave

" Problems, Musuko?"

He turned around and smiled at his mother. He shook his head and saw the gleam in her eyes. 'I know that look.'

" What are you up to?"

Yumemaru pointed to herself innocently. " Me? Whatever do you mean?"

SesshouMaru growled. " Okasan, I know we have not seen each other long, but I do know that look! It means you are up to something. Likely something that involves me!"

Yumemaru sighed and slumped. " I could never hide anything from you," she said. " Young Kagome wishes to formally adopt her kit. The ceremony shall be done by tomorrow night!"

SesshouMaru fell silent. 'Rin…' He gazed towards the ningen child that laughed along with the kitsune. 

"Okasan, can you watch them for me?"

He didn't bother to wait for a response, knowing fully that she would. He began to walk towards Kagome's chambers. For some odd reason, he knew she would be there. 

He stopped as he neared her room. His feet just would not move. He and Kagome had not really become best of friends as his mother had predicted four days ago, but he felt as if he knew her somehow. 

'The necklace…'

The emerald necklace that had bonded his grandfather and grandmother… maybe it was doing this to him? 'Maybe I should just… return it?' Nodding, he burst into the room, to find smell the scent of tears and sorrow. He found her on the bed, fast asleep but noticed the tear stains on her beautiful face.

'Why were you crying?'

" Souta… Mama… I miss you" she mumbled. 

SesshouMaru climbed on the bed only to find himself caught as Kagome turned and grabbed the closest thing to her. 

Sighing, he laid down and examined her. He wiped the tears that were slowly making their way towards her pillow and inhaled her scent.

Not caring what anyone thought, he fell into a deep sleep beside the woman who, strangely enough calmed his raging emotions. The one person who made him feel safe and content.

=====================================

Kagome could tell she was in a dream. She was back in the Higurashi shrine, leaning on the Goshinboku tree. There was a strange silence though. No sound of cars passing by, or her cat Buyo. The only thing there were the stars and the memory of her home.

" So this was where you lived"

Kagome faced the source of the deep voice. " SesshouMaru? What are you doing in my dream?"

The usually unemotional taiyoukai smiled and chuckled.

" To tell you the truth, I have no clue"

Silence fell over the dreamscape once more and Kagome could do nothing more than just stare at the man who stood over her. Finally, she broke off her gaze and looked at the well house. She heard SesshouMaru walk closer to her and felt him sit down next to her.

" It's nice"

Kagome turned to fully face him. " Pardon?"

" The other side of the well. It's peaceful."

Kagome smiled. " Its not really as quiet. I guess in my dreams, this is how I had pictured it."

SesshouMaru felt his heart beat faster as she smiled. Taking it all in, he stood and offered his hand to her. Slightly confused, she took his hand hesitantly.

" Would you like to show me around?"

Kagome nodded. " Sure"

As they walked hand in hand through Tokyo, SesshouMaru noticed that Kagome was more pleasant whenever she had no thoughts of his half brother. She looked more at peace, like a burden lifted from her shoulders. He decided now was the time to return the necklace.

He reached into his Kimono and took out the necklace. 

"Kagome… I, SesshouMaru had not given this back to its rightful owner." He started. " I believe it would look more fitting on your neck than mine"

Kagome blushed as he placed it on her neck and clasped it on, it was surprisingly easy. That was when Kagome noticed that he had two arms.

'I thought Inu… oh! In dreamscape… he's unharmed…'

SesshouMaru smiled as he noted that she finally noticed his arm. 'Kawaii…' He pulled her closer towards him and smiled as she blushed and turned into an even more crimson hue. He slowly leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

" Um, thank you…"

After a few moments of silence, SesshouMaru noticed that she was slowly disappearing. 'Chikuso… she's waking up!' Sighing, he gave up and waited for the scream that was to follow.

==================================

Kagome felt a warm arm on her stomach. She moved her left arm and her right arm and wondered when she grew another arm. Recalling her dream, she willed her eyes to open and found a strong stripped arm draped protectively around her waist.

Turning around, her gaze fell on two deep golden eyes. Usually, when this type of thing occurred, she would usually give them a slap, scream 'hentai' then fume and go into a 'sitting' rampage. But nothing happened. She felt even more comfortable.

" Hello"

SesshouMaru said nothing, but stood up. " Come, I presume it is almost time for dinner… I believe we should… prepare."

Kagome smiled gratefully and nodded. " Hai! Thank you for reminding me!"

Kagome rushed towards the closet only to find a kimono already laying on the vanity chair. 'I wonder if they saw SesshouMaru and me…' She blushed and took off her outer kimono, not noticing that she still had an audience.

'What am I still doing here?'

SesshouMaru decided to give her a bit of privacy and left through the doors connecting hers and his. He had found the passage just a few hours before dawn. He had used it once to watch as she slept. 

His heart was beating wildly as he reached his room. He closed his eyes and remembered every detail of her. Her delicate curves and her long legs. He felt warm and his pants felt tight, but he paid it no mind. It was loose enough to hide it.

' I should get my mind out of these things! Its… its… indecent!'

__

Whatever you say, after all you've been having these 'indecent' thoughts for quite some time now…

'I truly despise you'

__

I know you do. I live for it.

======================================

****

Author's Note: Quite long, ne? But don't worry… the next one will be just as long! And look! No cliffies! Well it is, but its not that you know: I WILL DIE IF I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT cliff… ^-^ stay tuned!


	19. Adoption part 1

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hello everyone! How do you do? Okay, so maybe that last chapter was a bit of a cliff, but its like part a to this part b. Besides, if I continued then I would not have fit the chapter without it bunching up, so do not blame the author blame the computer… er… whatever.

Disclaimer's Note: OH WOW! I Don't own InuYasha and co?! I didn't know that! -Mutters- 

============================

Kagome knew that SesshouMaru had been staring at her. It didn't take a genius to still sense his presence. Of course, she had no idea why she didn't really mind. 'He was incredibly warm…'

She slapped her forehead and started scolding herself. 'Bad 'Gome! BAD! Do NOT think that about SesshouMaru!'

She scuttled off to find Shippou and tell him of the news. She knew that he would be very happy. She passed by her father's study and stopped. 'Shikon shards?'

She went inside and found Kouga asleep on one of their father's chairs with an old scroll laid on his chest. Kagome looked for the shards and was surprised that they were not imbedded in his legs, but were inside his kimono.

" Kouga-oniisan"

He stirred and mumbled a few things that made Kagome giggle. 'So I was not his only love interest after all!'

" Ne, who's Yuuki?"

Kouga suddenly sat upright and was now the color of a tomato.

" Kagome! What-what-"

Kagome laughed softly. " Mou, you were asleep… I sensed the Shikon and well-"

Kouga smiled and reached inside his armor and took out a small pouch. He took Kagome's left hand and placed the pouch on it and closed his hand in hers.

" I've decided to follow Okasan's wishes… I will train harder to protect my clan… These shards are just false strengths for me… I'd rather help you find it than keep you from completing the jewel." He said sincerely.

Kagome smiled brightly and nodded. "Arigato. I appreciate it Oniisan… now…who's Yuuki?"

"hai?"

Kagome turned around at the voice. There in the doorway was a wolf youkai that looked no younger than herself. She had light brown hair, brown eyes and her scent reminded Kagome of Mrs. Higurashi. Suddenly, she felt saddened but pushed it away before anyone noticed.

" Ohayo! My name is Kagome! So you're Yuuki-chan!" Kagome said happily. " What do you do here?"

The youkai girl named Yuuki blushed and bowed. " Hime-sama… I am Lord Kouga's personal servant…"

Kagome smirked as she saw both Kouga and Yuuki blush. " You know you remind me of my friend Sango… only she's not as shy… anyway, I'll leave you to whatever you were going to do!"

Kouga growled playfully. " Kagome… I will personally see to it that you get something icky in your bed tonight!"

Kagome laughed merrily as she ran down the hallway. Ever since she remembered who her real family was, she was more comfortable and began to soften up to them. Kouga became more open to her and did not act so 'Kouga' like anymore. He was more himself and brotherly now. Komashiro had taken on the role of her father and always looked for ways to spoil her. 

She stretched as she walked towards the garden. 'That nap really did me good' She blushed as she recalled what had happened. 'Now didn't I tell you to cut it out?!'

"Okasan!"

"Kagome-sama!"

Two children ran up towards her and almost hugged the life out of her. 

" So what have you two been up to since lunch?" she asked. " I hope you kept clean!"

Rin and Shippou nodded and smiled as they showed her their hands. " All clean!" they both said.

" We were only talking and playing a game called 'I spot'"

Shippou nodded. "Remember the game you taught me, Okasan? I taught it to Rin and we found all sorts of neat stuff!"

Kagome smiled and hugged her pup. "That's great! Oh, Rin, would you mind if I talk to Shippou for just a second?"

She saw Rin's happy expression turn sad and she realized her mistake. " Its nothing bad, I just need to tell him of something that's happening tomorrow night!"

Rin smiled and nodded. "Hai!"

When Rin was gone, Shippou and Kagome were left sitting on the grass. Shippou was slightly nervous as to what the news was. 'I hope its what I think it is…'

" Shippou, before we go on for tomorrow night… I was just wondering. Would you like to become my pup?" Kagome asked. " I know that I think of you as my pup already, but youkai terms… would you…"

Before she even finished her sentence, Shippou was hugging her and she felt tears on the back of her shoulders.

" Arigato! I've wanted you to ask me that for so long!" Shippou cried. "I finally have a mother!"

Kagome smiled and hugged him back. "Now go and play with Rin, okay?"

Shippou nodded. He stopped and Kagome looked at him expectantly. " Can Rin come to the ceremony?"

" Of course! Everyone in the castle is invited!" Kagome smiled. 

Shippou's smile grew even wider as he ran towards the black haired ningen child. 

" I believe you have made his lifetime"

She turned towards the masculine voice and found her father standing right next to her. 

" Otousan! Yes… I believe I have," she said softly. " Otousan… why is it that whenever I talk to Kouga-oniisan about adoption… he gets all sad?"

Komashiro looked at Kagome and felt his heart clench with pain. 'Oh Kagome… my child… how thankful we both are that you are back…'

" Otousan? What's the matter?" Kagome asked worriedly. " Would you like me to call a servant?"

Komashiro shook his head and placed his arms over her shoulders and gave her a sideways hug. " No, I am fine… its just that both Kouga and I are so happy that you are back…". He let her go and faced her once more. " The reason why Kouga is saddened by the thought of adoption…"

Kagome stared intently at her father.

"… is because our castle was attacked and your Okasan died during his adoption ceremony."

She took a step back as if she had been slapped. All this time she had been so happy about Shippou's adoption… she had never thought that Kouga had a rough time…

" D-did Okasan ever-"

Komashiro shook his head, answering her question. "Kouga's ceremony had been permanently postponed…"

Hanging her head, Kagome stared at her feet. She felt her father leave and she sighed. Making sure that someone was watching the children, she turned on her heels and made her way towards Kouga. 

==================================

Yumemaru gasped audibly as she saw the scroll on her bed.

" Recognize it?"

She turned around and saw Kouga with a passive look on his face. " Otousan had no idea… but you did, didn't you?"

"I-I-"

Kouga motioned for her to stop talking. All his pent up rage and his grief and confusion was going to be let out whether Yumemaru wanted it to or not. 

" You knew all along where she was and you never told us! You knew that but you kept it from us! You knew why we were attacked! You knew who attacked!" he stopped just two inches before his chin nose touched hers. " You knew that InuYasha would go ballistic and would add to Naraku's destruction… but you never bothered to tell SesshouMaru-san…" he added silently. His tears now running free.

Yumemaru stood there fear emanating from her. But she dared not to move, shock was in control of her body and she knew by experience that if a young pup was enraged… that it was best to stay still.

" I don't really care about not telling SesshouMaru… but… you knew it would happen… why?" he asked.

Yumemaru sighed and motioned for him to take a seat.

" Kouga… we did do something. Your mother was a miko… a youkai miko granted… but still a miko. She knew that this would happen and nothing could change it. Your sister had to be protected. InuTaisho and I had searched everywhere until we found a well that was connected magically through to the future. Your mother and I cast a spell to keep her safe and human to conceal her heritage…" 

Kouga watched her intently, his anger disappearing by the second. "Well, what happened?"

Yumemaru's gaze darkened. 

" We had not anticipated InuYasha… that scroll is a magical one that records events that have already happened. Events that are set and that cannot be changed. But we were not shown that particular passage…" Yumemaru started straight at Kouga. " That hanyou… he is not of true blood… he is not InuTaisho's child… not even partially SesshouMaru's brother…"

"Then whose is he?"

Both Kouga's and Yumemaru's head turned towards the gentle voice. There, Kagome stood with confusion and hurt in her eyes.

"Tell me… whose child is he?"

====================================

SesshouMaru had freshened himself up and felt quite better. He longing felt the need to find Kagome and rip her clothes off. Although just thinking about it made him feel flustered. 

'You seriously need to take a break!'

__

Never heard you complaining before!

'That's because I never had to bother with you before!'

…

Satisfied with the limited silence between himself and his inner youkai, he savored the peace as he walked through the gardens. He had immediately sensed his 'daughter' and Kagome's soon-to-be pup. 

His head jerked towards the western lands. He unknowingly growled and flew towards his lands. Something was amiss and he needed to know what. Knowing well what had happened more than a half century ago, he knew that even a possibility of disaster should be checked out. 

He would not let that same disaster happen. 'That kit will be adopted… why do I care?'

__

See? You need me for these things!

SesshouMaru growled at himself and decided to ignore the pesky inner youkai.

'Every youkai deserves to have at least one member of their family… real or adopted. Whether the youkai is annoying or not.'

__

You just don't want anything to happen to your beloved!

The voice kept taunting him until he reached the forest, the only piece of land that was not his. It was a strange sight to see, the Lord of the Western lands having a small piece of land surrounded by trees which was not considered his. Technically, the village inside the forest and near it was in his half brother's care.

'So why I am here…?'

"You came"

He needed not to turn around to figure out whose voice it was. He always recognized that voice, it didn't matter whether he saw his face or not. Without a word, he turned around and his eyes widened slightly with surprise. His brother was ningen. 

"What happened to you?" he asked letting his mask go. 

InuYasha was half surprised, half worried. He had not seen this side of his brother in a long time, in fact, he had not seen this side of him since they were kids. 

SesshouMaru, however, did not care. He was curious as to how the change had occurred and why it occurred. Then he noticed his scent had changed.

"You _rutted_ with that corpse?!" SesshouMaru said in a low voice.

He saw InuYasha bow his head with shame and nodded.

"I had no choice… Kikyou's sleeping right now, but we will have to travel for her to feed…" InuYasha said sadly. "She's not the same woman I used to love… she controls my youkai blood now… willing me to be ningen or youkai whenever she wishes…"

'I pity you… this would not have happened if you did not abandon Kagome…'

The pity that he felt now left him and was replaced with anger. 'InuYasha is just a hanyou and a stupid one at that. He deserves this. But I should thank him… yes… it is only proper…' he thought with a sadistic grin. (Being youkai has its upsides… it makes you blind to **other** people's emotions.)

"I forgot to thank you, **Brother**" SesshouMaru stated in his monotonous voice. 

InuYasha stared at him blankly. " What for?"

SesshouMaru stood and began to walk away, but not before answering his question.

"For giving me the best thing that has ever happened to my life… the one thing you so carelessly abandoned."

If he had not flown away, he would have seen a broken InuYasha sobbing on the ground. 

==========================================

Kagome stood patiently as the seconds ticked away. None of them had moved for the past thirty minutes. Kouga was still sitting beside Lady Yumemaru and they were still clutching onto the scroll, but both of them were still staring at Kagome.

" Well?!" she asked finally losing her patience. 

Finally Lady Yumemaru sighed and patted the space next to her. Kagome, thankful that she would not need to stand anymore, took the seat next to her and made herself comfortable.

"InuYasha's mother, Leiko is not the kind of woman you would call… faithful. She's a person with a **very** colorful background…" Yumemaru started.

"Who is his father?" Kagome said slowly.

" One of InuTaisho's guards. Neither Leiko nor I was aware of whom it was," she said. 

An unhealthy silence wrapped over them once again.

"Oh"

Kagome then looked at her hands and recalled the time she pulled out the Tetsusaiga.

" W-who was the Tetsusaiga made for?"

Yumemaru stared at the girl next to her and blinked. 'The steel-cleaving fang?'

"It was made to protect the Western lands'…" then she realized what Kagome was implying. "Oh, Myouga probably told you it was made to protect InuYasha's mother, ne?"

Kagome nodded.

"Well, that's not the entire truth. Its made to protect the destined mate of the Lord of the Western lands," Yumemaru stated bluntly. " As to why Taisho thought that meant Leiko, I have no clue! Totousan is very skilled in these types of things…"

"Did he ever have to fight for La-Leiko?" Kagome asked. ' InuYasha cannot be the lord of the Western lands because… he's… not full and he's not InuTaisho's son…'

" To think of it… not really. Everyone feared Taisho. He would go mad when any youkai came across any object that was his." 

Kagome noticed the sadness that seemed to come from Lady Yumemaru. Standing up, she gave Lady Yumemaru a slight hug and silently left the room.

" I shall have to talk to Kouga later…" Kagome said. 

=======================================

****

Author's Note: Hello! Okay this isnt a real cliff hanger either! Im building up the suspense okay?! Don't worry… the whole Kag/Sess waffyness will come soon… after the whole adoption thing. I wont go with too much details on the training… just after will do. ^-^ Thank you for the reviews!


	20. Adoption part 2

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hello! I've decided to post this chapter because… well… let's just say I want to get to the mushy stuff earlier so that the whole thing will come together. And yes, InuYasha will be paired up with someone who will appreciate him more. By the way… the whole adoption thing will be explained further

Disclaimer's Note: ARGH!

=================================

SesshouMaru welcomed the scent of home. For some odd reason, it felt so empty. Even with the servants and Jaken around, he knew that something was missing. 

'Rin… yes… that's it! Rin, without her the castle is very dull…'

__

You dolt! Kagome!

He shook his head and went off towards his study. The nagging feeling that was lurking in his stomach would not go away. Even after seeing his brother, he still felt like something was wrong. He stopped searching for new documents or scrolls. Nothing new had happened in his lands, nothing suspicious, no sign of anything going wrong.

"SesshouMaru-sama! SesshouMaru-sama!"

Facing his toad-youkai advisor, he lifted his eyebrow. 'Maybe this is what my instincts have been warning me about…'

" A letter from your mother, m'lord," he screeched.

SesshouMaru's brows wrinkled with confusion. Why would his mother send him a letter when she knew that he'd be back?

He opened it cautiously and read the contents. 'That's why'

__

Musuko, I know you shall be enraged at my request, but I just cannot do the task. Lady Kagome is much younger than I and I have not engaged in battle or even trained in more than four decades. So, I ask that you train her, in the Western lands. There is too much political banquets being held here and we cannot afford these affairs to distract her. So, after I train Lady Kagome to be a proper youkai hime, I shall send her to you. I expect you to be here tomorrow night for the ceremony and I expect you to be at the banquet for Lady Kagome's birthday.

Growling under his breath, he placed the parchment on his table and stood. If he was to get to the castle by sunset, he should leave early.

"Jaken, take care of things here. I shall return the day after tomorrow with Rin," he said. " Get the seamstress to make me Rin a fashionable kimono. She shall come with me to the banquet in three months' time."

"H-hai SesshouMaru-sama," Jaken stuttered and left without a word.

SesshouMaru headed towards the castle, his uneasiness gone. 

===================================

InuYasha felt his youkai blood coming back. His ears and claws had returned. 'Kikyou must be awake…' He had thought that he made the right choice. He thought Kikyou would be a better shard detector, a better fighter and a better woman overall… but it turns out, she was a selfish, angry resurrected miko that lived through her hatred and her love for him.

'How am I supposed to protect her and myself if I become a ningen whenever she sleeps?

He felt Kikyou's weight on his back and he ran off towards the next village. The nights' activities had left her without energy and running out of souls.

He looked beside him and saw Kirara and his two pissed off companions. They had stayed to keep him sane, and he was thankful. Whenever Kikyou slept, Miroku would talk to him and give him hope. Sango was a bit touchy lately. She would not talk, nor would she even look his way.

InuYasha stopped at a meadow and the group halted. They watched as Kikyou went into the village. Sighing, Sango made camp, knowing that it would take days for Kikyou to get the necessary souls for her to replenish her energy.

" I think we should split up"

Sango looked at InuYasha and then at Miroku. His surprised expression told her that he had no idea what the hanyou was talking about.

" What?" she asked, her voice hoarse from lack of speech. " Split up?"

InuYasha nodded. " I will stay with Kikyou and await your return. You should try to see if there are any rumors of shards nearby. It would be easier that way…"

"You do not trust Kikyou now?" Miroku asked. " Her sense of direction is lacking?"

InuYasha shook his head. "Iie… she seems to be more content in finding more souls for herself to feed off of. And her powers seem to grow weaker when it comes to the Shikon lately."

Sango nodded in agreement. The last time they found a shard, it was laying on the ground for all to see, and Kikyou had not sensed it at all. She made no move to go towards it until she was directly above it. And as she tried to touch it, she was burned. It was as if the Shikon itself did not want her touching it and would allow any youkai to.

Sango herself had to pick it up carefully. It laid in InuYasha's kimono wrapped up in a small burlap puch.

" Okay. We shall come back here," Sango said. ' Maybe we can even go to see Kagome-chan…'

Miroku, who seemed to be thinking of the same thought, nodded in agreement with Sango. ' I sure hope we can… being with that dead miko is making me sick'

==========================================

Kouga went inside his chambers and was surprised to find Kagome waiting for him. He smiled softly and shook his head.

"You know, Yuuki wouldn't even look into my eyes since that little episode you pulled today," he said playfully.

He frowned as he saw pain flash through Kagome's eyes. She bowed her head in shame and Kouga went towards her and lifted her chin up, to see new tears falling from her eyes.

"Wh-what's wrong? Y-you didn't do anything wrong… I was just saying you made things a bit interesting between Yuuki and me but…-"

Kagome hugged him and he sighed as he stroked her hair.

" You never told me that Okasan died on your adoption ceremony… no-no wonder y-you we-were s-so distant…" she said between hiccups.

Kouga sighed and gently pushed her away to see her eyes.

" Kagome-chan… its over and done with… true I was a bit pained to be reminded of my own past, but this is a happy time for Shippou and yourself! 

Kagome nodded and brushed her tears away. She sniffled a bit but smiled. The happiness radiating from her was amazing. He felt proud of how strong his little sister was.

'She has to be…' he thought as he remembered the scroll. 'but she will have to be stronger to defeat Naraku…'

"Now come," he said as he pulled his little sister towards the ballroom. " Lady Yumemaru has you for the entire day to prepare for the ceremony, and afterwards…" he stopped and grinned. " You will have to train for a month and a half straight to be a proper hime"

Kagome face-faulted and groaned. " oh well, anything's better than math…"

Kouga laughed and dragged her to their destination.

=======================================

Sango and Miroku were tired and grouchy. Not one rumor of a shard at all. Sango noted that they were in the North Western Territories and that they were coming ever so nearer towards Kagome's new home. They stopped at a nearby stream and rested for a while.

"Sango-san… the moon is nearly up. We should camp here," Miroku said. 

Sango shook her head. "Iie… we go. We shall visit our dear friend. I miss them dearly…" 

Miroku nodded. They ate quickly and went off in search for the castle. Not noticing a rather large InuYoukai speeding towards them until Kirara hissed at it.

****

What are you ningens doing in Lord Komashiro's domain

Sango went into defensive mode but Miroku stopped her. She looked at the houshi suspiciously until she saw the crescent moon insignia on the youkai's forehead.

"Lord SesshouMaru, we are Lady Kagome's friends… we were just wondering where she might be," he said. " We have been searching for her."

The InuYoukai's eyes turned golden and in a short while, there before them, stood a regal InuYoukai in his humanoid form. His silver hair dancing in the blowing breeze and his large tail hanging on his left shoulder.

"I see." Was all he said.

After a moment's silence, he began to walk towards them.

" Tonight is young Shippou's adoption ceremony. He shall become Lady Kagome's pup. I believe she would like you to be present…" he thought out loud. "Very well. You shall follow me. I believe that Neko youkai is fast enough to follow."

Sango bowed with respect and hopped on Kirara with Miroku right behind her. They watched as SesshouMaru turned into his true form and began to speed away with Kirara barely able to follow him. 

' Kagome-chan, we're coming… I hope you haven't forgotten us' Sango thought as she saw a huge castle in the horizon.

======================================

Kagome examined herself in the mirror. She looked so refined. Her markings were brought out by the lovely purple kimono and her tail was wrapped around her waist and hung on her left shoulder. 

'How odd, I look like a more feminine version of SesshouMaru' she mused. 'If that's even possible'

Kagome began to visualize SesshouMaru and remembered what had happened just the day before. She blushed again for the fourteenth time this week. Her thoughts no matter how jumbled always seemed to end with the handsome youkai. She fingered her necklace and wondered how he was able to return it to in her dreams.

'Maybe he just placed it on when I was sleeping?' she thought. Shaking her head furiously, she looked at her reflection in her mirror.

" I really should stop daydreaming about him…"

"About who, dearest?"

Kagome turned around and smiled. Her father stood regally by her doorway. She loved having him around. She looked at his outfit and smiled. He was wearing a light brown kimono with an slightly uncomfortable armor over it. She realized it was his uniform, ones he wore during special occasions.

"Oh, no one special, really" she said.

Komashiro chuckled deeply and hugged his daughter. Sometimes he wondered how he ever fared for so long without her.

" Well in that case, shall we?" 

Komashiro opened the door and followed as Kagome walked towards the gardens. 

========================================

Sango and Miroku sat down along with the rest of the servants and found SesshouMaru sitting next to them as well. They were all gathered at the gardens in a large circle. 

'This is the first time I've actually be up close and personal with youkais in an adoption ceremony… how exciting!' she thought.

She saw Shippou who slowly walked towards the center of the circle where a small table was laid out for them. On it were three items, a sharp golden dagger, a goblet, and an old scroll.

When Kagome came in, she was dressed in purple robes and looked like a hime. Her eyes were sharp and reflected the blue moon's rays. Not a sound was heard, as if even the crickets and insects knew this was a grand occasion. Only the whispering winds and their slow breathing was heard. 

To Kagome, every sound was multiplied. The wind sounded like InuYasha when he was enraged, and her friends' even breathing sounded like the wind on a stormy day. 

She spotted Sango and Miroku and wanted to wave at them, but she trained hard for this event. Nothing would ruin it for her pup, she would not bear accidentally harming him in the process or worse.

Finally, she reached the table as well and sat opposite of Shippou. She smiled lightly and tried to calm herself. Lady Yumemaru stepped out from the shadows dressed in miko clothing, only it was the opposite colors of the traditional miko colors. Her top was a mixture of black and silver while her pants were dark blue. Her silver hair was tied back to keep it from her eyes, but was still down that Kagome could see how long her hair truly was.

"Are you ready, child?" she asked.

Kagome and Shippou nodded in unison and watched as Lady Yumemaru held the dagger in her hands.

She mumbled incoherently and the dagger shone so bright, Sango had to cover her eyes to prevent herself from being blinded. The winds grew stronger, as if a storm was on its way.

She put her hand down to see Kagome cut herself on her hand with the dagger and saw her blood glisten in the moonlight. She witnessed Shippou do the same. He winced in pain, but managed not to cry. Yumemaru collected a few drops of both their blood and mixed it with a concoction she had prepared earlier. Then, she handed it to Kagome who began to chant under her breath.

Sango's eyes widened as she saw both Shippou and Kagome drink the contents of the goblet. Suddenly, the winds grew even stronger wrapping both Shippou and Kagome in a small tornado. 

---------------------------------------

Kagome was lifted from her feet hovered towards Shippou. She opened her arms and held him tightly. SesshouMaru stared intently just in case anything wrong would occur. He had no idea when it had happened but he had developed something deep for the woman. She was strong and kind. Something not that many women had, not even youkais. His mother was known for her kindness as well as Kagome's but their past had tainted that reputation.

'Nothing will harm you, I swear on my life koi, I wont let anyone harm you from now on'

He admitted to himself that he loved her. Now all that's left was to somehow convince her to become his mate.

He thought of the training that would happen in a few months.

'You will become mine, Kagome. You shall see'

He began to think of plans on how to woo the woman that was now laying on the ground with her pup in her arms.

---------------------------------------

Sango continued to watch as the winds died down and all that was left were Kagome and Shippou. Shippou was asleep in his mother's arms. She smiled and noticed that he had taken on some of her physical attributes.

'Papa said that once a youkai child was adopted, the foster mother would then be like his biological mother… It would be as if he came out of her own womb…'

Sango examined the kitsune… no the inu-kitsune and saw that he now had similar light blue markings on both cheeks and arms. Sango noted that He still had his paws but they looked more like tiny hands now, and each finger on his hands had claws like Kagome's. Shippou's feet were also tiny and they no longer looked like his own tiny paws but it was like miniature InuYasha feet. The clothes he wore still fit, but it seemed that his aura had changed. She could see that his and Kagome's were almost identical. He felt stronger as well, as if being Kagome's pup had changed his strength.

'Makes me wonder how strong she really is…'

The servants began to clear things and one of the males were about to carry Kagome to her chambers when they heard SesshouMaru's low growl.

" I shall do that myself."

Sango and Miroku stared as the taiyoukai gently picked Kagome's form, careful not to wake the sleeping Kit in her arms.

"What just happened?" Sango asked.

"Shippou was adopted…" Miroku said hesitantly, not understanding her question.

Sango glared at Miroku and slapped his arm. " I know that you lecherous houshi, but what happened just a moment ago with SesshouMaru and Kagome-chan?"

Miroku thought for a bit and shrugged. " Maybe it's a youkai thing… after all she's not a ningen anymore and maybe he's warming up to her?"

Sango nodded and hoped that was it. ' I know for sure if InuYasha found out about this… he'd kill SesshouMaru in an instant…'

" Sango… do not be so worried. InuYasha respects Lady Kagome and I am sure that if SesshouMaru-sama's intentions are well, InuYasha will understand…" he said partly for Sango and partly to convince himself so. 'I just hope that InuYasha's chauvinistic side does not blind whatever is left of his logical side… if he ever had one'

===========================================

InuYasha and Kikyou ran towards the forest. No wonder Kikyou had sensed dying people and ripe souls for the picking. Low classed youkais had attacked and feasted on the bodies of the villagers. And now were aiming for them.

InuYasha looked at the rusted sword in his clutches.

'Why didn't you transform?!'

Kikyou sensed him tense and ran even faster. They were just a few meters away from a shrine. They could ask for sanctuary just until they stopped.

" Kukuku… if it isn't InuYasha… and what's this? Kikyou…"

InuYasha stopped running and placed Kikyou behind him. He pointed the rusted form of the Tetsusaiga towards the form hidden behind shadows.

" Come out here, Naraku!"

A figure wearing white baboon pelt came into the clearing. He began to chuckle and InuYasha noticed that the youkais no longer chased them.

"Those were yours?" Kikyou asked monotonously. " Why did you lead us here?"

Naraku's gaze fell towards InuYasha. " The hanyou need not hear this"

Kikyou nodded and InuYasha fell unconscious. 

"What is it?" Kikyou asked. " You promised to leave us alone if I pleasured you"

Naraku smiled. " I never said I would stop asking for that favor"

====================================

****

Author's Note: No this is not a lemon and there won't be one. I'm only 15! I cannot make one for three reasons: 1) I have no experience in such things. 2) I'm too innocent. 3) I don't think I can do it justice.


	21. Promises

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed that last chapter! I was just looking back on how to end the story and I realized that what I had said earlier about Sanctuary being longer than ChibiMamoru… I was wrong. So wrong, in fact Sanctuary is about either 6 or 7 chapters from the Epilogue… I had so much fun writing it I didn't realize it…

Disclaimer's Note: Hello! You are a Go-Getter! So go get yourself a life and stop trying to find excuses to sue me because I have put a disclaimer on the first chapters…which I hope is enough…

=========================

Kagome felt a strong breeze waking her up, she opened her eyes and found herself in the midst of a large open field with tall grass surrounding her. She became worried as soon as she remembered what had happened just a few hours before she became unconscious. She checked herself and found that she wore tight black shirt, and loose but comfortable pants. Over her shirt, she had a strange armor on, it fit her like a glove. She looked at her hands and they were still stripped, and she had a small flash of the ceremony.

'Wasn't I with Shippou? In the gardens…at the castle?' she asked herself.

"Yes, you were"

She turned around and found a tall woman more than a few years older than her. She had long black hair and wore an armor above her red and white miko garb. Her soft brown eyes told Kagome of the woman's past experiences and somehow she felt… connected to her.

"Where am I?" Kagome asked.

The woman smiled and opened her arms widely. " This is the dreamscape. Your mental sanctuary…". 

Kagome looked around and found nothing but plains and a light outline of mountains in the horizon. This 'mental sanctuary' did not feel much like a sanctuary but like… a desert.

" Well, right now if may feel a bit barren, but as soon as you get connected with yourself… you'll see things bloom…" the woman said. She looked at Kagome who slowly stepped away from her. " I see I may have to convince you… You know how people are when they are in what you call 'insane asylum'?"

Kagome nodded. "They seem so out of it… either they are scared of something or they think everything is a wonderful fairy-tale…" she began not noticing that the woman had mentioned something of the future, something that none in Shengoku Jirai would know of.

The woman nodded and smiled once more. " Whenever you need a break from reality, your mental sanctuary provides you with an escape. You always get the best escapes… unless you're running away from something deep, then your sanctuary turns more like hell…"

Her voice dawdled and she shook herself out of her reverie. "But enough of that subject… this," she said looking around her. "…is yours" 

" Why am I here now? And… who are you?" Kagome asked, finally realizing she had no idea who the woman was.

"I am Midoriko… and I am here to train you," she said. 

Kagome looked on with confusion clear in her face. " Midoriko… as in the one who created the Shikon?"

The woman nodded. " Hai… anyway, back to you," she said changing the subject. " You my child are an untrained miko. You know how dangerous that is? I am here to train your mental stability so that you can concentrate better in battles… this will help later."

Kagome nodded. " Wait… why are you here if …"

" My essence, my soul is the Shikon, once you piece it back together, it will need a strong guardian to keep it safe," she said. " I am forever cursed to fight on with that youkai… but you will help me so that nothing bad shall happen."

Nodding, Kagome silenced herself and sat down as Midoriko showed her what she may be able to accomplish once she perfected her skill.

'At least I won't ever be helpless'

" You never were…"

'How can she do that?'

"In dreamscape, there is no such thing as a thought… that would be like thinking in a dream… you don't do that… ever… its not possible" Midoriko said flatly. " Now, first we teach you how to meditate."

=====================================

InuYasha could not believe what he was hearing. Kikyou had told him to sleep but he was fully conscious. It seemed Kikyou had not anticipated that at all. With hatred and betrayal burning inside him, he tried to escape from her grasp, but it was too painful to try to beat her spell. 

He heard Kikyou and Naraku's moans as he tried in vain to get up. 

Finally, he relaxed and sighed inwardly. Suddenly, he thought of the Tetsusaiga. It would be strong enough to beat any spell, not made by a miko or a houshi…

InuYasha growled and he heard Kikyou and Naraku stop. There was an eerie silence between the two.

" Is he conscious?" InuYasha heard Naraku ask.

"I do not believe so… he should be sound asleep," replied a high-pitched feminine voice.

InuYasha never thought of Kikyou's voice sounding so painful before. 'Maybe that was because I was blind before?'

"Well, let's continue shall we?"

InuYasha tried to drown their voices by remembering one of Kagome's songs. He had not remembered the tune nor the meaning of the foreign song, but it drowns out most everything when she sang it.

' I wonder what she's doing now?'

He began to wonder how she was faring with the wolf-prince. He had not realized it yet, but Kagome was the only thing at that moment that kept him sane.

' I am so sorry… Kagome… if you come back…I will make it up to you… I will…' he thought sadly as he

recalled the new beads on his neck. 'I don't know how just yet… but I will think of something'

======================================

SesshouMaru had no idea when he had fallen asleep, but he found himself in his dreamscape. It was nothing like the dream he had when he was near Kagome, but he was in his castle. In the one place not even the servants knew of. There were so many secret passages that most of his time, when he was a child, was spent figuring out where they led. 

And right then, he was at the passage leading to the balcony that overlooked the east, where he would always be found sitting there waiting for the sun to rise.

But he was surprised to find a neko hanyou standing there by the edge facing him. Her long red hair was tied up in a high ponytail that reached the back of her knees. Her neko-like ears were on top of her head, much like InuYasha's. She was a fairly short youkai for her age, but tall enough that she could see eye to eye with SesshouMaru in her tippy-toes.

" Hello, SesshouMaru-sama!"

" Mariko! What are you doing here?" he asked.

The neko twirled her thin furry tail and smiled. " Can't a friend even say hi?" she asked.

" Not if its you, Mariko…" SesshouMaru chuckled. " Last time you did this, you wanted to know whether InuYasha hated pig food…"

Mariko grabbed her stomach and tried to contain her laughter. " Oh… and… haha… yeah! I remember! I dumped a whole bunch of slop on his bed… and haha…"

Finally, after a few minutes her laughter died down and she wiped away the tears that formed at the corner of her eyes.

"So, what is it this time?" SesshouMaru asked. He had treated Mariko like a little sister since her parents were his parent's loyal advisors, until the war, which then they had to retreat and he never saw her again. He never saw Mariko as just a hanyou, he treated her like family. 

" Well," she said her violet eyes sad and downcast. " I…I have nowhere to go…"

SesshouMaru was alarmed by her last comment. " What do you mean?"

" Mama passed away yesterday and papa… he just could not take it," she said. " He knew that ningens didn't live for very long and she was cheating death by using these shards."

SesshouMaru saw two pieces of the shards. 'Those are the ones my baka half brother and Kagome are collecting…'

" Your Otousan must have loved her very much," SesshouMaru said.

Mariko nodded. " As did I… but he didn't have to leave me too…"

SesshouMaru hugged her and patted her head. " Don't worry imouto, you can stay in my home… I shall be returning today so I believe I shall be there for your arrival." 

Mariko nodded. " Does InuYasha still live with you?" she asked.

" No" SesshouMaru said coldly, telling Mariko in one word not to continue any further.

" So who is she?"

SesshouMaru looked at her once more. Mariko had a sly grin on her face.

" She?" he asked.

" You know… the girl who finally melted that big block of ice around your heart… you never used to let me into your sanctuary so easily," she said. " I had not even lifted a finger to get in here."

SesshouMaru stared out in the sky and a picture of Kagome asleep was painted in it.

" Oooh, she's pretty," Mariko said twirling a strand of her hair. " What's her name?"

Sighing, SesshouMaru willed the picture to disappear. " Kagome"

======================================

InuYasha felt himself lighten and his eyes opened. There before him was a wet, smiling Kikyou. He had to act as if nothing had happened. She had gone through everything to try and cleanse Naraku's scent from her body, but InuYasha could smell it like a hungry dog can smell bacon.

" Where's Naraku?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

Kikyou's smile faltered, but if InuYasha had not been youkai, he would not have noticed.

" Oh, he's gone." She said " There's a shard somewhere up north… we have to go."

InuYasha looked at his companion. 'When did you change?' he asked himself. 

Looking at Kikyou now, all he saw was a desperate shell who would do most anything to get what she wanted. 

'To think of it… she never once cared what happened to me…' he thought. 'All those years I thought she loved me for me…'

Tears burning his eyes as he walked, he clenched his fists and waited for Kikyou to catch up. There was no way in hell he would carry her. 

'I won't stoop to carrying whores' he thought bitterly.

======================================

SesshouMaru opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked around and felt empty, as if something should be there with him. 

'Kagome'

He eyed the doorway towards his left and considered whether or not he should go in. Finally, he just stood up and opened the door. As he passed through, he saw a small lump underneath the covers. He saw the even up and down motion of her breathing as he neared. 

He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her sleeping form. There, he watched her as she slept, the emptiness temporarily filled. He was surprised to see the kit missing and decided to see where he had gotten himself to. He looked at the peaceful expression on Kagome's face and stroked her cheek.

'My Kagome…'

Finally, he placed a light kiss on her forehead and stiffened as he felt her stir.

"Shippou?" she asked groggily.

" Go back to sleep, its still too early," SesshouMaru whispered.

Kagome nodded and turned over. After a few seconds, SesshouMaru left in search for her kit.

He neared the gardens and saw an inu-kitsune in its true form curled on its side. It had red fur and light blue strips on his paws and on his face. Leaning beside its stomach, was a black haired girl who looked as if she had been out all night.

'Rin' SesshouMaru carried the little girl and nudged the kitsune. He opened his eyes and shook himself until he was fully awake.

With a 'poof' the pup was nowhere to be seen, and in its place was a inu-kitsune child.

" Ohayo SesshouMaru-sama!" he said cheerfully.

SesshouMaru only nodded. " Your mother is asleep. I suggest you tend to her before she gets worried."

Shippou nodded and bounced off, leaving SesshouMaru and Rin in the gardens.

Rin stirred in SesshouMaru's arms and he scowled as his sensitive ears heard the few words that came from her mouth.

" I wish I was you, Shippou… then I would have a mommy"

He smelled something salty coming from her and realized that she was crying. Looking up, he found Kagome's window and flew up towards it. He climbed through and found Shippou already asleep in her arms. He placed Rin on her other side as well and kissed Kagome's forehead as he whispered in her ear.

"I will have you as a mate, you can count on that"

===============================================

****

Author's Note: Like it? I said I would not put any lemons and I didn't… it was just implied and stuff… hey some people do worse okay! But anywayz… I hope u liked it… pretty short compared to the others…


	22. Rage

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hello everyone! *Lime warning* I needed to tell you guys that before you read it, because well… just cuz.

Disclaimer's Note: ARGH! NOT AGAIN! 

================================

Sango and Miroku had been travelling for days now, trying hard to contain themselves from ridding the world of the clay miko. But being a certain hanyou's friend comes with certain boundaries you have to respect. It had been a while since they heard from Kagome or Shippou, but they were certain that they would meet up again. After all, Kagome had said that she would return with them to complete the Shikon.

Suddenly, her senses were bombarded with a combination of youkai auras. Her knees felt weak as she looked up to see a hoard of youkais going their way.

InuYasha stepped up and unsheathed the Tetsusaiga and motioned for them all to stay behind him, however, the Tetsusaiga would not transform. The sword remained, as it was, rusted and old.

'What is wrong with you?'

The usual pulse of its power was not present. InuYasha began to panic. He could use his claws, true… but how long until he would wear out? Why was the Tetsusaiga so inanimate?

All the questions in his head, combined with his hatred blinded him from the world. His normally golden eyes were tinted with a hue of red, and two streaks of red were slowly showing on his face. His claws grew longer and harder.

Sango noticed this and pulled on Miroku's sleeve.

"We have to find a safe spot from this… I don't think we can stop him!" she said. 

Kirara had already noticed his change and transformed into her true form, allowing Sango and Miroku to climb on her. 

"Go Kirara!"

Kikyou, not knowing about InuYasha's youkai blood had ignorantly stayed behind with a bored look on her face. She did not care about what would happen, so long as she still stayed on this earth. 

'As long as Naraku keeps his end of the bargain, I will get the Shikon and I can wish myself back to life…' she thought cruelly.

As the hoard of youkais came, she felt a gust of wind and was surprised to see the Tetsusaiga in its rusted form on the grass. She looked up to see a full-blooded InuYasha mercilessly ridding the low- level youkais with his 'claws of blood' and 'claws of steel'. 

Once they were all gone, she noticed that the two ningens who traveled with InuYasha were nowhere to be seen. 

"InuYasha?"

She felt him stiffen as she hugged him from behind. Something was different about him… something… dangerous. She backed away as he turned around slowly, revealing his facial features.

His eyes were blood red. She could feel his thoughts. _Kill_. She continued backing away, but stopped as she remembered she had a leash on him.

He was closing in on her and she felt a lump in her throat.

" Stop." She said, but he kept going. 'What's going on?'

She looked at his neck and saw that the prayer beads were still on him. 'Could it be that he's stronger than I thought?' she wondered. She shook her head. No, those beads were stronger than life itself… only something with a stronger spell could break it.

"Kagome?" he asked.

She stiffened. 'So that's why…' she thought. Fear crept into her heart as she realized what was about to happen. 'I'm going to die…'

When InuYasha did not hear a response, he searched the miko's eyes and found nothing. With a snarl, he pounced on her. He bared his fangs and his eyes went from a light red hue to blood red in mere seconds.

"You are NOT Kagome!" he growled and ripped the clay miko until her body was nothing more than mere dirt.

He stood and sniffed the air and caught a familiar lavender scent. Trusting nothing but his blind instincts, he ran towards the scent.

__

Kagome 

Sango and Miroku stood upwind from InuYasha, witnessing everything he had done. The prayer beads had fallen off of him as soon as the miko had crumbled into dust. Nothing held InuYasha back now. Now, he was more dangerous than ever.

"Where is he going?" she asked.

Miroku shrugged as a fallen sword caught his eye. " Kuso! The Tetsusaiga!"

Sango paled. Without it, his youkai blood would never be in check. She now knew where the currently full- blooded youkai was headed to.

"Kagome-chan"

=====================================

Kagome paced around. Her mental state was more trained and was more matured than the rest of her. She needed to train and she needed it bad. Yumemaru had started on her lessons and that was a good way to let off steam, but her youkai side was aching to be released. 

Not to mention the fact that SesshouMaru had left with Rin and were probably in his lands right now, maybe even fighting with InuYasha…

'I wonder how InuYasha would view me now?' she thought bitterly.

She laughed inwardly at the thought. A few weeks ago, she had considered the world beneath the well was a place that haunted her and viewed her as a mere shadow of her former self. She viewed herself as nothing but an incarnate. But she was wrong. 

She was Kagome. The daugther of the Lord of the North Western lands, and she was born four years prior to Kikyou's death. She was now unique. No longer labeled as a double, a replacement.

'But was it worth it?' she asked sadly.

The way back to Tokyo was gone. This was her home, the family that she never knew she had. But what of the family she had beyond the bone-eater's well? What would become of her little brother Souta? What's going to happen now that his oneesan is gone?

Kagome clasped her necklace and found it glowing in her hand. As she opened it, a green light closed around her and she fell.

As she opened her eyes, she found herself in a luxurious bedchamber. Somehow something about the scene told her she was dreaming. Maybe it was the fact that the moon, and the sun, was in the sky and half of the sky was filled with stars. 

"What the-"

"Kagome…"

She tossed around and found herself gazing into a sea of gold. Blinking a few times, she realized she was still sprawled underneath the bed sheets. Not bothering to know whether she was dressed or not, she bolted up and stood beside the bed. She was breathing heavily as she gazed back at SesshouMaru.

SesshouMaru smiled softly at her, causing her to gasp audibly. 

'He's… gorgeous.' She thought.

Suddenly, she smacked herself inwardly remembering Midoriko's words: " There is no such thing as a thought in the dreamscape"

" I am flattered you think so, my dear," he said as he gracefully walked up towards her. Kagome stiffened as he hugged her from behind and whispered in her ear. " What brings you to me?"

He started to nibble on her ear and kiss her neck as his hand found hers. An involuntary moan escaped Kagome's lips. She felt him smile as he kissed her. His hot breath tickled her neck as he started to sway to an unheard tune.

" SesshouMaru what are you doing?" she asked as she wriggled free of his grasp. " I know that I'm not in my dreamscape… so why am I here and Where is here?"

SesshouMaru looked around and smiled. " You are in my dreamscape… it appears that you called upon the gem and with it being linked to me… " he said no more.

Kagome put two and two together and glanced down at the necklace. She did not want to part with it. It bothered her that SesshouMaru was the boy that she had received it from, but she was thankful, for it was the only thing that kept her sane at times she thought she was losing it.

"oh"

SesshouMaru grinned as he watched her move towards his balcony. She leaned on her elbows, which were propped up against the railing. He wrapped both his arms around her and nuzzled the back of her neck.

"Will you please stop it?" Kagome breathed as she let go of him. " I…I can't do this…"

He frowned. He knew well that Kagome still harbored some feelings for his brother. 'That baka… I should tear him limb from limb…'

He saw Kagome's eyes widen with fear and he smacked himself on the head, mimicking her motions just a while back.

"You… hate him… that much?" Kagome asked softly. "What did he ever do to you?"

He was surprised to see Kagome staring into his eyes as if she needed the answers to her question.

" He was born"

Suddenly, Kagome started to fade. SesshouMaru panicked and embraced the girl until he was embracing nothing but air.

"Don't go… not yet…"

=====================================

"Chikuso…" Miroku swore underneath his breath. 

Without the prayer beads that the undead miko had placed on him, InuYasha would be even harder to subdue, and he would be much harder to defeat. Without the Tetsusaiga, InuYasha's youkai blood would be that much harder to control.

"What will happen if InuYasha reaches Kagome-chan before we do?" Sango's soft voice asked.

Miroku wrapped his arms around the shaking woman before him. With lecherous thoughts gone from his mind, Sango knew that Miroku was just as scared as he was.

'Without the prayer beads that Kagome-sama had on him… she may very well be in danger'

====================================

Mariko ran like the wind towards her 'oniisan's' chambers. She had intruded in his 'nap dream' and found him lying on the floor of his chambers sobbing. She had jerked herself awake and began to run as soon as she heard terrified groans from the chambers down the hall.

'Sesshou's got it bad…' she thought.

She reached his chambers and opened the door with haste. She knew that SesshouMaru did not get nightmares often and what SesshouMaru had just dreamt was no nightmare. Putting two and two together, she knew that he was suffering from emotional turmoil and if he didn't wake up soon, he would go insane trying to figure out his problems.

She saw a tossing and turning lump under the covers and found it hard not to close her ears from his constant swearing. 

"Wake up, SesshouMaru-sama!"

SesshouMaru opened his eyes and grabbed the closest thing next to him, unfortunately for Mariko, she was the only thing close by.

"Kagome?" he asked groggily, his throat hoarse from growling.

Mariko was stunned. She looked into his golden eyes and gasped audibly at the raw emotions that flashed by. Pain, loneliness, sadness, longing, just to name a few. She knew how he felt, she had often dreamt of InuYasha the same way…

'How can I think of that baka at a time like this?! Oniisan needs my help!'

Mariko cradled the taiyoukai in her arms and tried to calm him down. SesshouMaru's vision began to clear and he found the Neko in his arms. He gently let her go and sighs.

" I… I don't know what to do anymore," he admitted as his head was bent in shame. 

Mariko shook her head and made a clicking sound with her tongue. "Tsk tsk, why are you so ashamed for?" she asked. "Love is an emotion that gives you strength. You should be happy."

SesshouMaru nodded and stood up. Giving Mariko a slight hug, he left her to her thoughts. He needed to hunt, and he went off to find an unfortunate animal to kill.

-------------------------------

Mariko sighed and left SesshouMaru's chambers. It had been so long since she was in the castle. 'Too long' she thought bitterly. 'I thought I would be able to come back before InuYasha left…' she laughed bitterly. 'InuYasha' 

Mariko and InuYasha were the best of friends. They had done everything together, they played pranks on each other constantly, but he always had his eyes on that Miko in the village in his forest.

'Kikyou' she thought bitterly. 'That selfish…'

She stopped. InuYasha's mother was just like Kikyou. Deadly, witty and conniving, nothing would get in the way of their goal.

As much as Mariko loved InuYasha, she hated InuYasha's mother. She was nice when Lord InuTaisho was around, but she lowered herself to nothing but a whore around everyone else. Including SesshouMaru. 

'The nerve of that ningen trying to hit on my oniisan!' she thought.

She reached her room and sighed. She felt tears coming from her eyes. She had witnessed everything that had happened in SesshouMaru's dream. Every little detail. She now knew what Kagome looked like and it tore her apart.

The woman slightly resembled Kikyou and she hurt for it. Although she felt nothing wrong about her and liked her aura instantly, her physical appearance still sent knives in her heart.

Suddenly, she felt a sudden jolt of electricity, as if someone important was coming. Her eyes widened and she ran to find SesshouMaru.

======================================

Kagome shivered slightly. Her meeting with SesshouMaru left her confused and consumed with loneliness. She could still feel his breath on her neck, his touch on her skin and his kisses. 

She looked around her and admired the eloquent design of the formal dining room. Lady Yumemaru preferred to teach her there. It gave her a certain comfort, with the paintings and all.

"Kagome, do listen when I talk to you," said the kind woman as she snapped her fingers in front of Kagome's face.

" Gomen." Kagome said. " What were you saying?" she asked.

"I don't know whether to feel proud or useless for this bit of information I am to give you," Lady Yumemaru said " I have nothing left to teach you, my dear. Most of the things you've learned in the future is more than half of my lessons. All that's left is for you to learn of the history and the legends of the youkais, which I am sure that I can teach you in just three days…"

Kagome smiled slightly. She loved history, it gave her a certain feeling knowing her heritage. She loved it. And legends were one thing she had to live with. Seeing as her grandfather always told her of legends.

"Jii-chan"

Yumemaru frowned. 'Hm… It seems that she had been quite fond of her family beyond the well…' she thought. 

She placed her hand on Kagome's shoulder. 

" It is alright to cry once in a while you know," she said. " You must have been quite fond of them."

Kagome nodded. "I loved them very much."

Yumemaru smiled. " You will see them again. Youkais live practically forever." 

Kagome nodded.

======================================

Hatred. Worry. Pain. Confusion. So many emotions ran through the hanyou's mind. He had no idea what he was doing, he only knew he needed Kagome by his side. He had been foolish to turn her away and now that he had his sight back, he would ask her to take him back. 

He cursed himself for not knowing it sooner. But its all in the past. All he needed to do was to find Kagome. Find her and make her his mate. They would live forever together.

"Kagome"

He did not care who was unfortunate to get in his way. He just ran through a straight course towards the North West.

He was so blinded by his own instincts, he did not realize that he was in his half-brother's territory. Then again, he didn't care.

" InuYasha"

he heard a soft feminine voice say. He stopped. 'Kagome? No…' he started to shake off his need to kill. '…Mariko…'

======================================

****

Author's Note: Hey all! I hope you enjoyed that chapter! I just wanted to thank Essai for telling me of the whole SesshouMaru spying on Kagome episode. What I had intended to say that the only time that SesshouMaru saw Kagome face to face with him was when he was trying to kill her or get the Tetsusaiga, but whenever he spied on her, she was calm because she did not know of his presence. 


	23. Kagome's feelings

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: lol I love you guys! Thank you for all your reviews! I also wish to thank those who tried to make my stories better! ^-^ You love me! You really do! Anywayz, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer's Note: You want a disclaimer? I'll give you a disclaimer! See the first chapter!

==================================

Mariko approached InuYasha with caution. She had not found SesshouMaru anywhere and decided to take matters in her own hands. She knew more of his tantrums than most people knew. She herself had gone through them.

She shuddered as she remembered the hard lessons she learned from her first tantrum. The bloodshed caused by her hands, the screams and the smell of fear and death would forever be branded in her mind. She vowed never to become a monster and trained hard to keep her blood in control.

" InuYasha, I can help you," she said softly as she approached him slowly. She extended her hand for him to reach.

" M-mariko?" 

InuYasha's voice was hoarse and pained. His eyes were slowly returning to their usual golden color. He recalled what he had done and began to weep as Mariko placed her arms around him for comfort.

" There, there… it wasn't your fault…" she cooed as a mother would to a hurt child.

InuYasha pulled away from her and wiped the tears from his eyes. A sad smile escaped his lips and he nodded in appreciation.

" W-what are you doing here?" he asked finally. 

Mariko smiled brightly. " I am staying with SesshouMaru."

She grinned at his shocked expression and patted his shoulder. " Not like that you dumb-ass! My parents passed away and Sesshou took me in."

InuYasha smiled uneasily. 

" Besides, Sesshou already has a mate so even if I wanted to; and Kami knows I don't, I can't have him," she said.

InuYasha's brows knit together. " My brother does not have a mate… nor does he show signs of wanting one…"

Then a horrific expression flashed through his eyes. " Not that ningen child!? That's low even for SesshouMaru!"

Mariko slapped InuYasha lightly on his arm and shook her head.

" Not her!" Mariko said as she went into child mode. " Her name is Kagome. She looks so pretty! Kind of reminds me of that woman you used to like though… but she's way better! By the way what hap-"

She stopped. She saw InuYasha's angry expression. 'Uh oh…' she thought. She backed away as she saw the fury in the hanyou's eyes. 'What the hell…'

" Kagome? No…"

InuYasha growled and punched the nearest tree, unfortunately, knocking Mariko down as well. The last thing Mariko saw before she fell was an angry InuYasha running towards the North- West. Back to his original destination.

'Shit' she thought. She felt her consciousness leaving and prayed that SesshouMaru would find her soon.

==========================================

SesshouMaru had gone into a cave beyond the waterfalls near a spring in the gardens. His aura was completely covered by the earth and the water washed away his scent. It was his sanctuary in real life. The one place he could count on to be empty for him to be left with his thoughts.

He sat down and eyed the dark cave. Being a youkai, his sight had already adapted to the darkness. He had discovered it before his hanyou brother was born, thus he had known that it was dry and good for a den. He had a rug and a few chairs as well as a futon and a table. He had often sneaked out of his room to sleep in the cave. It felt much better to be away from everyone and to hear nothing but the babbling water.

"Kagome…"

He closed his eyes only to open them as soon as he hears Mariko's silent cries. He ran out of the den, not caring if his kimono get wet. Water fell from his drenched hair and his clothes stuck onto his body like a second skin. He ran through the forest with ease and found Mariko's body lying limp, sitting on the base of a huge oak tree.

"Mariko…"

The neko woke up, her violet eyes looking into his golden ones. 

" G-gomen… In..inu…yasha… h-he's off t-to try and… take… K-ag…-" she managed to choke out before having a coughing fit. Blood issued from her mouth as she tried to stop.

SesshouMaru lifted her gingerly into his arms. " You'll be fine, just a broken rib or two… but you're going to have to tell me what happened."

He summoned his 'cloud' ( AN: can someone please tell me what that thing is? ) and flew off with Mariko still in his arms. 

He could hear Jaken's squawking in the distance. 'I shall be back soon' he said to the frantic youkai telepathically. 'harm a hair on Rin's head and you will find yourself wishing for death'

He listened patiently as Mariko told him of what happened between breaths.

========================================

Sango and Miroku were at the end of their rope. InuYasha was nowhere to be seen and they had no idea where he had gone.

" We should just go to Kagome-sama… he is bound to be there," Miroku said.

Sango slapped the houshi's hands as it went dangerously close to her rear end. 

" No, houshi. We cannot let InuYasha get to Kagome without Tetsusaiga. He's too dangerous!" she said.

Miroku nodded and spotted something flying towards them at a high speed. "Wait. Is that SesshouMaru?"

Sango looked up and nodded. " Hai!"

They were surprised to see it float down towards them. They got a good look of SesshouMaru carrying a wounded Neko-youkai bridal style in his arms.

" I need you to take Mariko-san for me. Take care of her wounds. I am off to find my half-brother."

He placed the neko in Sango's arms and left without another word.

"I think we should follow suit," Sango said.

"Not with a wounded youkai we aren't," Miroku said.

" I am not dead, I will heal, let us go," Mariko said as she tried to sit up. " I managed to calm InuYasha down even for a second, I have a feeling I can do it again."

Sango nodded and helped her climb Kirara. Miroku sighed. 'Stubborn women' he thought and climbed in after Sango.

====================================

InuYasha could smell Kagome and he knew he was getting closer. 'Just a little further…' he thought. He needed to know and his anger was fuelling his curiosity. 'SesshouMaru gets everything' he thought bitterly. 

Meanwhile, Kagome was just preparing to leave the castle. She as well as Shippou were going to travel to the Western lands to seek SesshouMaru. After all, he was to be her sensei. 

The thought of being close to SesshouMaru once more made her feel butterflies in her stomach. 'I can't be falling in love with SesshouMaru… can I?' she asked herself.

She stopped packing and found her CD player in the bottom of her pack. 'Hm… the batteries are still good… I guess it won't hurt' she thought.

She put her headphones on and began to sing along with the CD. Not knowing that just outside her door was her father listening to every word she sang.

'How carefree my daughter is…' Komashiro thought. 'Just like her mother…'

He smiled at the thought. ' She had the same fire when we were forced to be mated…'

****

Flashback

__

Komashiro watched as his mate-to-be glared at him from the other side of the room. It was her 18th birthday and law proclaims a woman to be mated by the age of 18

He so wanted to become her mate. She was as beautiful as she was kind. Not to mention powerful, and every male in the lands had wanted her. Although, he was the only one that her father ever took a fancy to.

"You know, this will never work!" she seethed. " You will not get me to cooperate with this."

"I know" he said lightly. " I wouldn't have it any other way"

Ayame glared at him once more and growled as she passed by. " You will have to drag me kicking and screaming before I ever become your mate, you overgrown wolf!"

Komashiro raised his eyebrow and saw the fear in her eyes. He began to corner her.

"Wh-what do you think you are doing?" she stammered.

He lowered his head and kissed her lips lightly. "Whatever I damn well please."

****

Flashback Ends

He chuckled at the memory and sighed. 

' I do hope SesshouMaru treats her kindly' he thought. 'If only she knew how he felt… maybe she might even want to be with him…'

With that thought keeping him amused, he went towards Lady Yumemaru's chambers to discuss the matter further.

===================================

Yumemaru felt InuYasha was close. She knew about his tantrums and had once been at the wrong end of it. She had gotten more bruises from him alone than the battles she had fought all together. 

She would not be able to stop him, and he was arriving much faster than she thought. In the speed he was travelling, it would take him 3 hours to arrive at the castle.

' I must keep Kagome here until then… I will not afford to lose her to some mutt!' she thought angrily.

Her door opened and Komashiro stepped in.

" I see you've already known of a hanyou arriving." He said.

Yumemaru nodded and looked at the canvas she was about to paint on. It was blank, save the black dot in the center.

" What is it?" Komashiro asked.

Yumemaru shrugged. " I have no clue."

Suddenly, they heard sounds of panic at the castle gates.

"How can he arrive so soon?" Yumemaru asked. " It is just impossible!"

Komashiro shook his head. " Not if you're in a mad rampage…"

'SesshouMaru… get here… soon!'

===========================================

InuYasha managed to get through the guards and was relying on his instincts to guide him to Kagome. He had knocked down plenty of servants to get to her chambers and finally found her. His anger was temporarily forgotten and he stepped forward. Kagome still had her headphones on and was softly singing along with the music. Her back was towards him.

InuYasha slowly approached her and hugged her from behind. He inhaled her scent deeply and sighed.

Kagome stiffened. She saw InuYasha's red haori and felt weak. 'Why is he here? Why is he doing this to me?' she asked.

" In..InuYasha?" she asked slowly.

She turned around and stopped her CD player, taking her headphones off. She felt his stroke her tail lovingly and shivered as a wave of disgust flowed throughout her body.

" What are you doing here?" she breathed.

" Mariko said you were mated to SesshouMaru… that liar." He whispered as he hugged her again. 

Kagome blinked and pushed him away. She looked him over and noticed that the Tetsusaiga was nowhere in sight. The only thing left was the scabbard which still hung on his hip.

" Where's the Tetsusaiga?" she asked, fear creeping into her voice. " Wh-why isn't it with you?"

InuYasha frowned and pulled her back into his arms. " Why are you afraid of me?"

Kagome backed away and said the one word that popped into her mind.

" SesshouMaru"

InuYasha felt his blood boil. 'How dare he touch Kagome?!' he thought as his eyes started to turn red once more. Not caring whether he hurt Kagome or not, he grabbed her by the waist and ran towards the window.

Shippou, being in the gardens at the time screamed for help as soon as he saw Kagome in InuYasha's arms. Lady Yumemaru and Lord Komashiro tried in vain to catch up, only to see InuYasha's retreating figure.

" Where is he going to take her?" Shippou asked as tears fell from his eyes. " Where is he taking my mother?"

Yumemaru took the child in her arms and rocked him back and forth. " I don't know…"

"I do"

Komashiro and Yumemaru looked behind them to see Kouga with an angry expression on his face.

" He's taking her back to the forest. His territory…" he growled. " I will bring her back!"

Sadly, without the shards in his legs, he was not as fast as he used to be, but he was fast enough to see SesshouMaru as he flew overhead.

" Kouga, what happened?" he asked, not bothering to mask his emotions. " Where is Kagome?"

"InuKorro took her," he said bluntly. " He's headed back to his forest."

SesshouMaru cursed underneath his breath. " Come, it will be faster this way"

Nodding, Kouga climbed on the cloud and both he and SesshouMaru flew off to save Kagome from a raging InuYasha.

=====================================

Kagome didn't know what to do. Kikyou was nowhere in sight and InuYasha never acted this way around her. Maybe it was Naraku? He doesn't have the bead on… but no… Naraku never knew that InuYasha would go ballistic without the Tetsusaiga.

" InuYasha… stop," she commanded him gently.

He seemed to lessen his pace, but he did not stop running. She could sense the forest just ahead. 'We traveled that fast? I thought it took days, er… hours to travel from the North-West to the Western lands…'

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Home" was all he said.

Suddenly, she felt him growl and stopped. He set her down beside a tree and turned around.

" SesshouMaru" Kagome whispered and heard InuYasha growl even louder. She could feel SesshouMaru's presence even though she could not sense his aura just yet. They saw two figures in the air flying towards them. InuYasha stepped a few feet in front of Kagome defensively.

" Why are you following us?!" InuYasha roared. Still in full youkai mode. 

SesshouMaru stepped down from his cloud, making it disappear. Kouga growled and was about to attack when SesshouMaru prevented him from doing something rash.

" Give me back my sister!" Kouga yelled through clenched teeth. " She's got nothing to do with the likes of you!"

InuYasha growled even louder and felt for the Tetsusaiga only to feel the empty scabbard. 'Chikuso'

"Looking for this?" said a feminine voice. All eyes were on the newcomers. Kirara detransformed and heaved heavily for needed air. Sango cradled the exhausted youkai and glared at InuYasha.

Miroku stepped in front of her and showed InuYasha the rusted sword. " You so carelessly dropped the fang as you killed Kikyou."

Mariko grasped a branch to steady herself and placed her other hand on Miroku's shoulder. " Do not provoke him. He may seem civilized, but he can throw a tantrum pretty well."

"Well then how do you propose we defeat the hanyou?" SesshouMaru whispered not letting his guard down as he watched the hanyou wearily.

Mariko shrugged. " We attack him until he becomes unconscious, or until his anger wears off."

They all saw InuYasha still in defense mode and Kagome behind him. 

"Try not to move towards Kagome-sama," Mariko said. " He seems to be protective of her."

Kouga growled but nodded.

Without any warning, they all closed in on the hanyou. Miroku had gotten a few punches in, but InuYasha had knocked him into a tree. Sango was more careful and tried to aim for InuYasha's head. Mariko tried not to faint as she kicked InuYasha's back.

After a dozen or so of punches, Kagome decided to join in, knowing InuYasha would never go down without a fight. Locating his pressure point, she poked his neck and he went limp, into SesshouMaru's arms.

"I suggest we return to the castle," he said. " Maybe we can help him there."

Sango nodded as Kouga picked Miroku's body and carried him over his shoulders. Sango helped Mariko as she limped towards the castle. 

" Thank kami you're safe," Sango said to Kagome as she walked by.

Kagome nodded and sighed. " I only wish I was stronger… I could have helped out more."

SesshouMaru halted as soon as he heard her. He turned around and glared at the woman who instantly bowed her head in shame.

" If you had not done what you did… InuYasha would have killed us one by one." He said. " So do not say you were of no help"

Kagome blushed at his intense gaze and nodded. " Hai"

========================================

As they reached SesshouMaru's castle, they placed InuYasha in a locked chamber with the Tetsusaiga until he would wake.

Rin was ordered not to go inside, or even to go near the chamber.

Everyone was exhausted from trying to wear InuYasha down, only to find they had worn themselves down. So Sango kept Miroku company in one of the guest chambers in the Eastern wing, and Mariko was left to heal in her chambers. The only ones left still walking were Kagome and SesshouMaru.

" We should inform Lady Yumemaru that I am fine," she said softly.

SesshouMaru nodded. They walked around the castle until they reached the dojo. Kagome stood in awe at his collection of weapons.

" I see you like your classroom?" SesshouMaru said. 

Kagome laughed and nodded. " I had no idea there were so many kinds of katanas…"

SesshouMaru watched by the doorway as Kagome examined every weapon in the dojo. His heart was yearning for her, but he just could not move. 

'I will just scare her off again…' he thought sadly.

He saw her pick up one of his older swords. It was one his father gave him. The sword was light and cut through most anything smoothly.

He smiled as he saw her trying to perform a basic kata. Her form was bad, but she looked so graceful, even though her strokes were not precise. Finally, he walked up behind her and placed his arm on hers. He rearranged them for better form.

"There," he said still holding her arm. " Now try it"

Kagome went through the kata flawlessly and blushed as she noticed how close she was to him. She looked sideways and blushed as they made eye contact.

"Um… arigato"

'The hell with scaring her off… she must feel the same…'

SesshouMaru took his chance and turned her around slowly. He took the sword from her and placed it back on the wall. Wrapping his tail around her waist, he gazed deep into her eyes, leaned down and gave Kagome a passionate kiss.

'Oh Kami…' Kagome thought as she felt her knees weaken. 'I'm falling… no… I've fallen for SesshouMaru…'

Instead of pushing him away, she surprised herself as she kissed him back with the same passion. SesshouMaru, taking it as a sign purred and broke of the kiss. Kagome whimpered in disapproval, she pouted at him as he laughed at the cute expression she had on her face.

" I think it would be more fitting if we continued this somewhere… private" he whispered huskily kissing her neck.

Kagome blushed and nodded, placing her arms around his neck, he picked her up and began to walk towards the spring in the gardens. He went through the waterfall and laid Kagome down in the futon.

" This is amazing," Kagome said in awe. 

" You are the first person I brought into my 'den'," he said lovingly. " You make me feel alive…"

" Aishiteru, Kagome…koishii." He whispered in her ear.

Kagome smiled at him. " I love you too."

==================================

****

Author's Note: ^_^ * sniff sniff * I … I feel so… loved! Wahhhhh! I'm sorry if it seems a bit different and not as well made as the others… I was writing this when I had a headache so it might be fast paced and bunched together… sorry. I promise the next one will be better!


	24. To Be Mated

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: hm… okay… I don't want lemons in my story… they're too sour! Besides… I do a good lime… that's pretty much almost there… and my very, very innocent friends read this story… so, tell ya what… I'll make a lemon counterpart for it, and if you want to read it, just tell me and I'll email it to you ok? That way everyone's happy.

Disclaimer: Oh, go fetch a stick!

=============================

Kagome blushed at SesshouMaru's intense gaze. She had stripped down to nothing but her underwear and he was covering his essential parts with his furry tail. As she looked him over, she noticed his right arm. She crawled up towards him and fingered what was left of his arm after he had fought InuYasha over the Tetsusaiga.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, her eyes filled with concern.

"Only when I see it…" he whispered.

SesshouMaru's heartbeat grew faster as she kissed his amputated arm. She started to glow a light blue and her hands moved towards the stub. She lowered her hands, as if she was feeling where his arm would be. Suddenly, to SesshouMaru's surprise, before his eyes, his arm began to regenerate. Within minutes; his mate had returned what would have taken him centuries to grow back to him.

He glanced back into her eyes and found himself getting lost within the blue-gray pools that emanated love and content. He leaned closer towards her parted cherry red lips.

Kagome felt his arousal poking her thigh. She blushed as SesshouMaru chuckled at her innocence. 'This is your mate… you shouldn't be so afraid…' she thought and finally mustered up her courage and took the initiative to do something. She traced the markings on his arm as she placed herself in a more comfortable position on his lap.

" Don't move," he growled and wrapped his tail around her waist. He felt her raven colored tail twitch every now and then. He listened to her heartbeat and watched the even up and down motion of her chest as she breathed.

'Okay… I don't think I'm ready for this…' Kagome thought nervously. 'What if I don't exactly match his… expectations?'

SesshouMaru noticed that Kagome was becoming nervous and smiled. 'So she's worried she might not please me… how very ironic' 

" I think we should go… they might worry about us," Kagome whispered as she turned to face the cave entrance..

SesshouMaru nuzzled the back of her neck and purred. " Let them worry." He said as his started kissing her neck. His left arm was numb from being used as a pillow, but he didn't care. He trailed his kisses from her right shoulder to her left. Kagome shuddered as she felt him turn her around as he eventually went for her lips. He gently nibbled on her lower lip as her arms traveled up and down his back.

SesshouMaru gently guided Kagome down to the futon and parted her lips with his tongue. Kagome moaned as he traced the cave of her mouth and felt his weight on top of her. 

" I love you, my mate," he said as he ended the kiss, panting slightly from the lack of oxygen.

Kagome gently caressed his cheek and gazed into his golden eyes.

" I love you as well."

For the second time that day, they spent hours proclaiming their love in the comfort of their Sanctuary in the cave beyond the waterfall.

===================================

InuYasha woke up feeling a throbbing pain in his head. He shaded his eyes with his hand as the sunlight shone through the window. He groaned in pain as he tried to sit up. He stretched his limbs and looked around his current chamber.

'Funny…' he thought as he checked his surroundings. There were many haoris laid out for him and he saw the Tetsusaiga, fully sheathed propped against a chair. 'This feels like … my old chambers… in…'

Realization dawned on him. He was in SesshouMaru's castle, his father's former castle, in the western lands. Growling in frustration, he crouched low as his sensitive ears heard gentle footsteps outside the door.

There was a small knock, but InuYasha pretended to be asleep.

" Don't bother trying to pretend, Inu. It's Mariko, I know you're awake."

Sighing, InuYasha opened the door and the neko-hanyou stepped in with a big smile on her face as well as a tray full of food.

" Why am I here? Where's Kagome?" he asked, never breaking eye contact.

Mariko sighed and placed the tray on the chair next to the Tetsusaiga. 

" You didn't have the Tetsusaiga to keep your blood in check. You went ballistic, so SesshouMaru-sama and I helped to get you here," she said. " As for Kagome-chan, she's probably in her room sleeping."

InuYasha sat down on his bed and hung his head. " I don't know what came over me," he lied. 

Mariko glared at him. " Yes you do. You just don't want to admit it"

InuYasha looked at the neko and sighed. " Fine. I got pissed of because SesshouMaru always got everything. I got jealous."

Mariko's expression softened. " Why?"

InuYasha's eyes darkened and his expression saddened Mariko. 'He was in love with Kagome as well?'

" I love Kagome. I know that now… and… now I've lost her, to my brother!" he said bitterly. " Did you know what the last thing she said to me was before I went full youkai? She said SesshouMaru. The one thing in her mind was SesshouMaru!"

" Well that's life, InuYasha," Mariko said her tone becoming serious. " You can't always get what you want. So suck it up and take it like a man!"

InuYasha laughed and nodded. " Yeah, I guess… but you know what angers me even more? The fact that my brother does not even know what he has…"

"That is where you are wrong," Mariko said softly. " SesshouMaru loves Kagome, he loves her more than you or even he knows."

InuYasha stared at her as she stood and walked towards the door. 

" But seriously, InuYasha," she started, stopping before she got to the hallway. " You had your chance with her. You lost it, so let Kagome find someone she may be happy with."

She turned around and looked at InuYasha one last time. " Maybe you should find someone you can be happy with as well."

InuYasha stared at the rug on the floor and heard Mariko's retreating footsteps.

' Maybe I should… but not before I apologize' InuYasha felt a small tear escape his eyes. ' Take care of her SesshouMaru, she's worth more than gold'

Finally, he stood up and took the tray that Mariko had given him. He ate his meal slowly and saw a small plate of Mochi.

He laughed as he looked at the small smiling picture that was poked through the cake. 'Mariko'

"You always knew how to make me smile," InuYasha said to himself. Sighing, he stood up and felt sticky. 'I'm going to take a bath'

=====================================

Sango could not stop cracking her knuckles. Miroku had been asleep for four hours now. She was really beginning to worry about him. 

Kagome had once told her that she and Miroku were so much alike. At first, Sango thought Kagome was a bit crazy, but she was now beginning to believe what the young miko said. Miroku was the one person she could count on, other than Kagome with her life.

And right now, the one person she counted on needed her. 

"Miroku…" she said saying his name for the first time aloud. She had always thought it was improper to call a monk by his given name. But then again, Miroku was no ordinary monk.

She fingered the fabric that covered the Kazaana. The monk stirred at her touch and she smiled softly. Kirara mewed at Sango as she came inside the chambers. She hopped onto her lap and curled into a comfortable sleeping position. 

"Sango?"

Sango looked up to see Miroku's curious blue eyes. She blushed as she noticed that she was still holding his hand.

" Um… hello Houshi-sama," she stammered retreating back to her 'proper' self. 

Miroku smiled and sat up, ignoring the blunt pain on his shoulders. He took one of Sango's hands into his.

" Do not be so formal with me, Sango. I am you friend," he said. ' I hope' he silently added.

Sango smiled softly and nodded. " Hai, you are…Miroku-sama."

Miroku smiled. 'Close enough' he thought. He tried to stretch, but found the pain too much to bear and flopped back down on the soft mattress.

" I'll bring you some food… I'm sure you're starving," Sango said as she stood up. She found it hard to leave, seeing as Miroku still had a hold of her hand.

" No… please… stay, just a little longer?" he whispered.

Sango sighed softly and sat back down.

Miroku mouthed a thank you and closed his eyes, leaving Sango to watch him as he slept. She brushed off a few stray bangs that fell from his face and found her hand lingering on his chest. 

" I hope you feel better soon… Miroku," Sango said.

She heard him whisper something and blushed. Finally, she heard him snore and took it as a sign to leave. Still remembering his words, she placed her hand on her cheek and sighed as soon as she reached the hallway.

__

My name sounds better when **you** say it

========================================

Kagome stretched as she sank in deeper into the hot spring. It had taken quite a lot of persuading to do, but she had managed it. She massaged her sore muscles and touched the junction between the base her neck and her left shoulder. 

SesshouMaru had given her a bruise from his mark and would certainly leave a scar. She blushed as she remembered that she had given him one as well. Although she had no idea what had gotten into her to make her bite him.

'Instincts' she concluded. 'That's what it is…'

She heard a familiar growl behind her and found a half- naked hanyou hovering over her. Being a full youkai had its advantages and disadvantages, and right now, she found another good thing about it. She sensed InuYasha's emotions and found him to be quite angry.

" Um.. H-hello," Kagome stammered.

She saw InuYasha smirk and blushed at her current state of dress. She sank even lower in the springs and stared straight, not bothering to acknowledge InuYasha's presence. 

" Kinda makes it hard for you to subdue me without those damn beads, doesn't it?" he gloated.

A cruel spark glinted in his eyes as he walked into the same spring that Kagome was in.

" Wh-what the hell do you think you are doing?!" she screeched. " Out! Now!"

InuYasha waded in front of her and smirked as he felt how uncomfortable he was making her.

" Um… you enjoy y-your bath… I…I think I'm done," Kagome said as she scrambled to get out of the spring, only to have InuYasha catch her wrist and pull her towards him.

" Kagome… don't leave… say it isn't true."

Kagome's eyes widened at how soft his voice was. Her heart clenched in pain. 'Why are you doing this to me…?'

"W-what do you mean?" she asked her voice hoarse. 

" That you and SesshouMaru aren't mated," InuYasha whispered, loving the feet of her in his arms. " Kagome… I… I'm sorry for all those times I was mean to you… and how blind I was…please forgive me…"

'Don't say it Inu… please don't…'

" I love you"

Kagome choked back a sob and pushed him away. Her bruise throbbed and reminded her of the path she had chosen. Of the man she had chosen to be with. 'I love him…' she thought.

Kagome lifted her head up and took InuYasha's face and straightened it so that they were making eye contact.

" InuYasha… You don't know how long I have wished to hear you say that to me," she started. She placed her finger over his mouth and closed her eyes to prevent the tears from flowing. InuYasha had kissed her palm, but she took it away. " InuYasha…please listen…"

She took her robe and went out of the spring. She placed it on and knelt in front of him. " InuYasha, I love you as a friend would love another friend. I-… It's true about SesshouMaru and I." She opened the robe and revealed the mark that he had given her earlier. " Sesshou and I are mated… and I love him very much…"

InuYasha blinked back his tears. 'Mariko was telling the truth…' He sighed and looked at Kagome. He nodded and took her clawed hand in his. " I hope you will be very happy with him…"

Kagome nodded. " I am." She began to walk towards SesshouMaru's room with a bright smile on her face and huge burden lifted from her shoulders.

=========================================

Yumemaru sat by her vanity and combed her hair. She had been there since Kagome's kidnapping. Although they had received news that she was fine, Yumemaru still felt worried. With that hanyou there none of them would be safe.

Suddenly, she stopped and stared at her reflection. The family symbol for the Western land was fading. The blue crescent was no where to be seen.

'The crescent' she thought. 

She smiled to herself and ran towards Komashiro's study. As she burst through the door, she hugged the white haired lord and started jumping for joy.

" My friend, what is the occasion?" he asked.

" SesshouMaru found a mate! He found a mate! Look!" she said as she pointed to her forehead. " It's gone! The symbol is gone! I am no longer the woman of the Western Lands!"

Komashiro blinked until the story sank in. He patted her friend's shoulder and nodded.

" That is great news! I wonder who she is?" he asked.

Yumemaru stopped and glared at Komashiro. She smacked his arm hard and shook her head.

" Are you really that oblivious to the obvious?" she asked. " It's Kagome!"

Komashiro smiled. " I was just joking my friend, besides… I had noticed he had been quite into my young daughter."

" I should tell Shippou. We need to get him to his mother soon!" Yumemaru giggled.

" When does the mark appear?" Komashiro asked.

Yumemaru sat down on a chair and looked at her friend. " What do you mean?"

" When will the crescent show on her forehead?" he asked pointing to his own diamond insignia. " I remember Ayame's did not show for a few cycles."

Yumemaru thought for a while and shrugged. " Its really hard to tell. It depends on whether the two accept each other, you know… that was the reason why Ayame did not have the mark on her forehead."

" So how long was it when you were mated with InuTaisho?" he asked.

" I had the mark as soon as he bit me"

=================================================

SesshouMaru paced around his study. He had ordered the servants to move Kagome's things into his room, since they were now mated… but he was nervous. He had not seen Kagome's forehead as of yet and he was getting a suspicion that it was not there.

He flexed his right arm and smiled. 'Time to test it out…'

He went out towards the springs and found InuYasha with his head hung low and his demeanor sour. 

" InuYasha"

" SesshouMaru" he replied. Looking up, SesshouMaru saw acceptance in his eyes and wondered what had occurred earlier. 

Shaking his head, he walked off, leaving InuYasha to his thoughts.

'What did my little brother accept? His defeat?' he thought

He growled with frustration and transformed to his true form. He ran through his lands and savored the taste of his speed. It had been a long time since he had a full run. 'Too long' he thought. 

Finally, he sat down on a hill overlooking the meadows where Rin usually picked her flowers and inhaled the fresh scent of dandelions.

Suddenly, he growled as he smelled a foul scent. Looking back towards his castle, he ran as fast as he could, hoping that nothing had gone wrong.

"Naraku" was all he said as he ran. ' Please be safe, Kagome'

===========================================

****

Author's Note: Wai! Lol I love this chapter! So limey! Lol ^-^ truth be told, it took me so many damn tries just to get it like this… so please don't flame… 


	25. Brotherly Love

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Before I let you read the following, I just have to say that I did not include Kanna or Kagura mainly because I have not read much about them and I have no clue as to what the heck they actually do in the series. I cannot write about someone that I have absolutely no clue about. So, in my story they do not exist. With that said, enjoy the rest of the story.

Another thing… so sorry for the delay in updates. I had a 101-degree fever on Wednesday and a 104 fever in Tuesday so I was quite out of it for a while…

Disclaimer's Note: The song 'Smile' is not mine… don't exactly know who sang it though.

================================

SesshouMaru got a clearing in the woods and found a baboon clad hanyou hiding in the shadows. He stood perplexed and cautious as he watched the hanyou walk calmly towards him, stopping merely feet away. SesshouMaru made sure he had his emotions in check. He had dealt with the hanyou before and it proved that Naraku was no jester. He was someone who didn't play by the rules, and had brains to weasel out of tight situations, that combination made him a very dangerous enemy.

" Greeting, SesshouMaru-sama," he said. 

SesshouMaru merely nodded as if to say ' You are not worth my time, but give me a good reason and I won't kill you'

" I have a proposition for you," Naraku continued. " The miko you hold in your… protection, I want her."

Stifling a growl, SesshouMaru stepped up towards the baboon and crossed his arms. " Pray tell, why would you want her?"

" She is the guardian of the true Shikon and is very valuable to me. I shall give you whatever you ask if I have the miko."

"No"

Naraku stepped back in surprise, his long baboon pelt rattling the bushes. " No?"

" I refuse." SesshouMaru said flatly. 

" What would you want a mere ningen for anyway?" Naraku asked desperately. " I can dispose of-"

Before he finished his sentence, he found SesshouMaru's right hand on his throat. 

" Stay away from the miko. She is my mate. If I sense you near her or my lands, you shall find yourself up close and personal with my poison claws," SesshouMaru growled as he raised his glowing left hand.

Naraku chuckled evilly. "Kukuku, protective are we? Well, well… so the Great Sesshoumaru **does** have a weakness!"

SesshouMaru decided to rid of him, only to find him crumbling into nothing but dirt and a wooden doll, wrapped with a long strand of black hair.

' Kagome!' he thought. He frantically ran towards the castle, not even realizing that another presence was watching the scene with him and Naraku's doll.

__

Weakness

SesshouMaru growled louder and fastened his pace. ' Kagome is no weakness, nor is Rin… they are…' He stopped. 'Family'

With that last thought, he looked up and found himself before his castle. His blood pounded in his veins as he ran towards _her_ scent. 

=========================================

Naraku stood over the fallen pelt and doll. He still held his ningen lord disguise. ' So the taiyoukai has taken a liking to my miko, ne?' He recalled the number of arms the taiyoukai had. 'It seems our little miko is getting stronger…'

' Too bad that whore of a miko, Kikyou had to see the wrong end of that inu-hanyou's claws… the poor bitch' he thought. 'She was quite good at relieving my stress'

He then thought back to Kagome and wondered if she knew of her own past and who she would become.

He began to walk towards his own domain and think about what had happened. ' Soon the miko will realize who she is… and she will become stronger… I must act quickly before she has the chance to be told!'

Placing the pelt over his arm, he went off deeper into the forest until he reached a worn path where a carriage was awaiting his presence.

" My lord?" a ningen servant asked. " Is everything alright?"

Naraku placed the pelt in the servant's arms. " Take this and clean it, mend it, do whatever, just bring it back in good condition"

"Yes, your lordship," he said as he signaled the guards to carry the carriage and they went off.

' I'll have to get Kagome myself… my copies just don't do it well enough' he thought. With an evil smile on his face, he took out a small pouch containing several pieces of the jewel. ' There is only one more shard left, and I shall let her group find it for me… then they will all be together.'

His blue eyes glinted with an evil plan. 

' How convenient'

==========================================

Kagome found one of SesshouMaru's white yukatas and decided to try it on, loving the feel of the silk robe on her, she decided to lay on the bed and think of what had happened. Things were just rushing by her head, and it gave her a headache.

She recalled InuYasha's sad eyes and his tone of voice. She knew that the hanyou would not give in so easily… so why had he just handed her off to SesshouMaru?

'Not that I mind' Kagome thought as she smiled. She massaged the bruise on her neck and sighed. 

Kagome felt so complete, so safe in this castle, with SesshouMaru.

"Kagome-sama?" a small voice squeaked through the crack of the open door.

Kagome sat up and faced a tear-faced Rin and frowned. " What happened?"

The little girl ran up towards her and sobbed in her arms. Kagome shushed the child and began to sing.

**__**

Smile, though your heart is aching  
Smile, even though it's breaking  
When there are clouds in the sky  
You'll get by...

Kagome lifted Rin's chin with a clawed finger and smiled as she sang._  
**  
If you smileWith your fear and sorrow  
Smile and maybe tomorrow  
You'll find that life is still worthwhile if you'll just...  
Light up your face with gladness  
Hide every trace of sadness  
Although a tear may be ever so near  
That's the time you must keep on trying  
Smile, what's the use of crying  
You'll find that life is still worthwhile  
If you'll just...  
Smile, though your heart is aching  
Smile, even though it's breaking  
When there are clouds in the sky  
You'll get by...**_

She wiped Rin's tears away and cradled her as if she were Shippou. A small tear fell from her own eyes as she recalled Souta and Shippou, and the rest of her loved ones both in Shengoku Jirai and beyond the well. Singing with a clearer voice, she stood and twirled Rin around. She smiled at the little girl's laughter._  
  
**If you smile  
Through your fear and sorrow  
Smile and maybe tomorrow  
You'll find that life is still worthwhile  
If you'll just Smile...**_

When Rin's laughter died down, she watched Kagome's expression as she sang in a softer voice. 

__

  
**That's the time you must keep on trying  
Smile, what's the use of crying  
You'll find that life is still worthwhile  
If you'll just Smile.**

Rin smiled and nodded. Kagome placed her hands in Rin's little ones. " So what seems to be the problem, little one?"

" Well, Rin… er… I was playing with Jaken-sama and he said that R..I was just a m-m-menace that d-d-disturbs SesshouMaru-sama…" Rin stuttered.

Kagome frowned and embraced the little girl. 

" I shall fix that, my dear. Do not take his words to heart. He is just afraid of what will become of him," Kagome comforted the black haired ningen.

"Hai, Arigato Okasan!" Rin said happily.

Kagome smiled and nodded. " Now go on and play, I have to get dressed!"

Rin bounded off, leaving an incredibly sleepy Kagome in SesshouMaru's chambers. 'A little nap won't hurt, ne?' she asked herself as she laid on the soft mattress and dozed off.

============================================

SesshouMaru's heart beat faster. He stopped completely before his chambers. Almost afraid to see what he would discover, almost fearing that the one he loved the most would not be there. He opened the birch doors slowly and released the breath he did not realize he held. 

There, lying peacefully over the covers of his mattress was a heavenly figure dressed in one of his white yukatas.

"Kagome" he breathed. " Thank Kami."

She stirred mumbling his name. He smiled and brushed the locks of hair that covered her face. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. She woke up tickling his face with her eyelashes.

" Sesshou?" Kagome groaned. " What… how long have I been asleep?"

SesshouMaru sat down beside her and took her hand as she sat up. He kissed it and moved up towards her arm.

" Not long, love." He said lovingly.

Kagome smiled and maneuvered her way towards his lap. She rested her head on the crook of his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

" I think we should make our presence known, ne?" she asked.

SesshouMaru grunted in agreement and picked her up bridal style. " I think we should. Though, I'd rather you get dressed and cover up a bit."

Kagome pouted playfully. " Why?"

" I don't want that lecherous houshi to see you like that," SesshouMaru said with a twinkle in his eyes. " I might get jealous…"

Kagome was shocked, but she kept it inside. SesshouMaru seemed to do that a lot lately. She complied and went towards the closet, only to find SesshouMaru already there.

" I think you should were this one, ne?" he said holding up a kimono that matched the one he wore, only instead of it being red, it was light blue. 

Kagome nodded. " Turn around."

SesshouMaru smirked. " No, its nothing I haven't seen before."

Kagome blushed and whacked his arm playfully. " Come on, please?"

SesshouMaru crossed his arms and shook his head as he smiled. " Where's the fun in that?"

Kagome sighed exasperatedly. " Fine." She let the white Yukata fall and put the silk kimono on. After a few minutes, she tied on the Obi and twirled around. " You like?"

SesshouMaru took her arm and twirled her into his arms. " I liked it more when it was off you."

Kagome blushed once more and went on her tiptoes to give him a peck on the lips. " Later."

As SesshouMaru watched Kagome walk out of his chambers, he smiled fully and nodded. ' Definitely not a weakness'

===========================================

Shippou looked around Kagome's room and sighed. 'Its no fun without Okasan around' he thought sadly.

" You seem sad, young one," a voice said behind him.

He turned around and found Lady Yumemaru standing by the doorway. He nodded and took out Kagome's yellow backpack. 

" Can I go visit her now?" Shippou whined. 

Yumemaru laughed and shook her head. " She's in training with SesshouMaru, besides, InuYasha is still there… he might be a bit… wild."

Shippou's shoulders drooped and bent his head. " Aww… he has the Tetsusaiga… he should be fine now…"

Lady Yumemaru looked at the kit. "Th-the Steel-cleaving fang? InuYasha has it?!"

Shippou nodded. " Hai. It was one of the main reasons that SesshouMaru targeted him."

" Shippou, pack your stuff, we're going to the Western lands," she said. " If you are correct and InuYasha does hold the Tetsusaiga… your Okasan may be in real danger."

Shippou gasped and nodded. ' Please be okay'

==========================================

SesshouMaru sensed InuYasha close by and turned around. He saw a silver blur by a dark corner. Kagome noticed SesshouMaru stop and placed her hand on his shoulder.

" What's wrong?" she asked. 

SesshouMaru shook his head. " You go on ahead. I shall be down shortly."

Kagome nodded. Sesshoumaru released his tail from her waist, but placed a loving kiss on her forehead. Kagome blushed and smiled.

" Don't be too long," she purred and gracefully walked down the stairs.

SesshouMaru smiled and faced his brother. " You can come out now"

InuYasha stepped out of the shadows and SesshouMaru frowned at his appearance. He still looked fine, but his emotions were locked tight. He looked like a mirror of SesshouMaru, only without his stripes or his crescent.

" I don't know what the hell you think you're doing, but I'm on to you." He said flatly.

" Whatever do you mean?" SesshouMaru asked. 

" Bullshit. You're making Kagome think you love her…" InuYasha said angrily. " I don't care what Mariko says. You don't care a horse's ass about Kagome! You never took a liking to her when she was a ningen and you barely notice any other youkais!"

SesshouMaru sighed and nodded. " Hai. That is right." He hung his head and sensed InuYasha's anger disappearing. " I don't blame you for feeling this way, but believe me… Kagome changed me. She taught me how to open my eyes…"

InuYasha looked at SesshouMaru and stepped up towards him. " Look… just…Kagome loves you… and… I-I just hope you're being truthful, SesshouMaru." He walked on towards the stairs. " If you ever hurt Kagome… I will hunt you down and rip out your heart."

SesshouMaru chuckled and walked next to him. " Believe me, if I hurt Kagome… I will rip my own heart out."

InuYasha smiled. For the first time in centuries, he felt close to his brother once more. 'Maybe he is telling the truth…'

=========================================

****

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! I hope you enjoyed it anyway!


	26. The Tetsusaiga

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: thank you so much for all your reviews! I feel much better now and I hope this chapter will be just as good or better than the last one! Sorry for the delay, I had a bit of writer's block…

Disclaimer's Note: see note in chapter 1/ prologue.

Special thanks to: step's angelgirl who told me that the song 'Smile' was from My Girl 2.

=================================

Kagome smiled as she entered the beautiful dining room. There were paintings and vases placed out around the room. 

'I bet Lady Yumemaru decorated the house… back then' she thought.

As she walked deeper into the dining room, she found a large rectangular set table. She had never seen most of the food on the table in her life, save for the movies. In present day the cuisine that was served right on the table would have cost Kagome most of her life savings!

" Imouto, I have not seen you in a while," Kouga said slyly. " I wonder what you were doing?"

Kagome blushed as she slapped him playfully. Kouga noticed the mark on her forehead and smiled. It really made her look more regal than she already did. The crescent moon that signified the Western Family was now imprinted on Kagome.

Kouga sighed in relief. 'At least the faint noise I heard in the gardens wasn't just a mere need for SesshouMaru to pass the time.

A moment later, Kouga, Mariko and Kagome were frozen in their seats. InuYasha and SesshouMaru were talking like brothers! SesshouMaru's arm was draped on InuYasha's shoulders as InuYasha's were on his.

" I see you've resolved your sibling rivalry," Mariko said happily.

InuYasha flushed and grunted. SesshouMaru merely walked towards his mate and sat beside her. Rin bounded in happily and sat on Kagome's lap.

" Well, shall we?" SesshouMaru asked and began to eat. Kagome nodded and followed suit, feeding Rin as well.

Jaken, smiled inwardly as he looked at his master and his master's mate. ' It's about time' he thought. ' Maybe it's time I find myself a suitable mate…'

****

=================================

Yumemaru stormed into the castle, not caring about the servants who yelled at her rudeness. She needed to get to her son and soon. Shippou was sleeping in her arms and she was thankful that he was not going to get in her way. 

'Please be alright… I do not want that hanyou to be the downfall of such a lovely couple…' she thought sadly.

She sensed a gathering in the dining room and burst in. She was surprised to find Kagome sitting with her son, who sat next to InuYasha.

" Lady Yumemaru," Jaken croaked. " I was not told of your arrival today…"

SesshouMaru stared at his mother and smiled.

" Mother, you must be tired… I shall get your chambers ready and you can join us," he said courteously. Yumemaru sighed and smiled.

" Hai… I won't take long." She said happily. " Oh, Shippou fell asleep…"

Kagome stood and took the sleeping child in her arms. " I'll put him to bed. If you don't mind, koi?"

SesshouMaru shook his head. " Not at all."

Kagome bowed respectfully and went towards their chambers. SesshouMaru looked at his mother and motioned for her to sit down.

" I don't think you came all the way here just to bring Shippou to his parents… what is the matter?" SesshouMaru asked.

Yumemaru looked at InuYasha and pointed towards him. " The Tetsusaiga. Does he still have it?"

InuYasha nodded and stood up. He took the katana with the scabbard and untied it from his hip. He laid it on the table and sat down.

" What is the meaning of it?" Mariko asked. " Why ask InuYasha for the sword?"

Yumemaru sensed Kagome returning from SesshouMaru's chambers and she waited until she was in the dining room. 

" The steel-cleaving fang no longer responds to the hanyou," she said gravely.

Kagome gasped. " Is that true?" she asked, clutching the gem on her necklace. 

InuYasha nodded. " I-I don't know when it happened… Before I… killed… Kikyou we were being attacked by youkais and the fang would not transform."

Kagome looked at Rin and saw her horrified expression. " Jaken, would be so kind as to bring Rin to SesshouMaru's chambers? Shippou is there as well."

Jaken nodded and took Rin. 

" So, would you mind telling me why it won't do anything anymore?" InuYasha asked. " I… I can fend for myself without it… but… my blood…"

Mariko looked at him with sad eyes. ' InuYasha…'

Silence fell over the group. Mariko couldn't stand it anymore. " I can help you."

They all looked at the neko as she spoke. " I am hanyou too… I learned to control my blood… just as you can…"

" …That's all good and everything… but why doesn't it respond to InuYasha?" Kagome asked. " I mean, it transformed for him before, why not now?"

Yumemaru cleared her throat. " Shippou told me of how InuYasha got his paws on the katana, and it leads me to believe that the Tetsusaiga had chosen you to become the new Lady of the Western lands long before you met my son."

" The Tetsusaiga was made by InuTaisho to protect his land and to ensure that he would have strong heirs. It was made to protect his mate as well as his next generation's mate and so on," Yumemaru started. " Shippou tells me that you were the person, who pulled the sword from its holding, were you not?"

Kagome nodded. " Yes, but Myouga-san-"

" Myouga? Ha!" Yumemaru scoffed. " That flea does not know the difference between a fox-fire and a thunderbolt!"

" So you mean to say, that Kagome and I were going to be together whether she was youkai or not?" SesshouMaru asked curiously.

" Hai." Yumemaru said. " But it is likely that the Tetsusaiga knew of her power and of her heritage."

SesshouMaru nodded. " So, let's eat…"

Kagome strayed to the dojou after lunch and began to think of Yumemaru's words. 'Would SesshouMaru love me now if I were human?'

She fingered the rusty katana that InuYasha had given to her. After Mariko had offered to help him, he decided it was best to give the fang to someone who could use it. She stood and unsheathed the katana and went into stance. 

In her concentration, she was not aware of anyone else's presence around her. SesshouMaru smiled as his mate, successfully going through the kata he had shown her.

He watched her as she gracefully sheathed the fang back into the scabbard. He went behind her and wrapped his arms around his mate.

Kagome tensed until she smelled his light scent around her. " SesshouMaru" she whispered. Turning around in his arms, she smiled sadly.

SesshouMaru noticed the change in her emotions and looked deep into her eyes.

' What's wrong?' he asked.

' I…I was just thinking' she thought back.

They had found their link to be quite useful in reading each other's thoughts.

' Liar' SesshouMaru said as he chuckled lightly. He wrapped his arms around her tighter and inhaled her lavender scent. ' You're worried aren't you?'

' I…' she pulled out of his grasp and looked him square in the eyes. " Do you love me?" she asked out loud. 

" I do. I always will," SesshouMaru said truthfully. Then, taking her hands in his, he kissed them both softly. " And I would have loved you… even if you weren't youkai."

Kagome smiled and nodded. " I'm sorry to doubt you…"

SesshouMaru nodded and picked up a light katana. " Shall we?"

Kagome laughed sweetly, making SesshouMaru's heart skip a beat. " We shall!"

InuYasha and Mariko were out in the gardens sitting on two boulders. Mariko had her eyes closed and seemed to be as still as a statue.

" What is the relevance of all this?" InuYasha growled in frustration.

" Meditation. It clears your mind and your emotions are easier to keep in check!" Mariko said happily as she opened her eyes and leapt from the boulder.

Looking up, she found InuYasha crouched and glaring at her.

" What?" she asked innocently.

" You're supposed to be helping me!" he growled. " This does not fit into any of that!"

Mariko giggled and called him over. He reluctantly followed suit and found her leading him towards the dojou where they saw SesshouMaru and Kagome sparring.

" Do you see how Kagome is right now?" she asked. " She's in control of her emotions, she's not mad that she can't fend off SesshouMaru. She knows she will be able to later on, but for now she's calm and concentrated."

InuYasha watched Kagome longingly as she gracefully moved syncopated with SesshouMaru's movements.

" It's like watching them dance." He breathed.

Mariko nodded. " It takes time, but with some help you will be able to control your blood. You can even control it so that you don't change into ningen."

InuYasha's ears perked up and he turned towards her. " Let's go."

Mariko smiled and offered her arm. InuYasha got a mischievous smile on his face. He picked her up, causing her to squeal with fright and he ran as fast as he could towards the gardens.

****

=================================

"Do you really have to leave?" Kagome asked as she and SesshouMaru escorted Kouga towards the entrance.

" I've been away long enough and Father must be worried about me…" Kouga lied.

Kagome smiled slyly and nudged him. 

" Yuuki must be worred as well, ne?" she teased.

Kouga turned a bright red and faced the door. " Anyway, say goodbye to Shippou for me."

" I don't have to. We're going to visit once in a while," Kagome said happily.

Kouga smiled and took his sister's hand in his. " Thank you" 

Kagome watched as her older brother ran towards the North Western lands. She took out her pouch and SesshouMaru watched as she molded the two jewel shards she received from her brother earlier to the rest of the shards in the small jar.

He found 1/4 of the jewel was still missing.

" Is that how much you still need to find?" he asked. 

Kagome shook her head. " Iie. That's how much of the jewel is with Naraku."

****

=================================

"Mariko!"

" What? I only took one!"

" That was MINE!"

" Was not!"

" Too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

Kagome sighed and leaned back into SesshouMaru's chest. Ever since she found she still had a few of her candy stashed in her bag, Mariko and InuYasha were always fighting over who got the last candy drop.

" You know… by the time candy is invented, they'll be so angry at each other, they won't even care!" Kagome huffed.

SesshouMaru hugged his mate lovingly and chuckled. " No, I believe they'll be mated by then"

Kagome smiled at the thought. " Yeah… maybe"

" SesshouMaru-sama! Kagome-sama!"

Miroku ran inside not caring that SesshouMaru was glaring at him and that Kagome was blushing as she pulled the sheets up towards her chest.

" Sango and I believe that Naraku may be planning something," he said. " We were out in the village collecting the herbs you asked us and we heard many rumors of a baboon-clad youkai roaming around the western lands!"

SesshouMaru tensed and sat up. " Impossible… I would have noticed him!"

Kagome placed her hand on his chest and calmed him down. 

" Naraku can hide his presence… even his evil miasma. He is a powerful youkai… especially since he has the rest of the jewel." She said. " Thank you Miroku-san. We shall be down soon. We have to prepare for the final battle"

Miroku nodded and closed the doors behind him.

Kagome stood up and began to dress. SesshouMaru felt his pride swell up as he watched Kagome's determination. He had trained her well.

" We need to hurry, koi. I still have a lot to learn before I can help defeat Naraku."

SesshouMaru nodded. 'I will protect you my love… even if it costs me my life'

Both did not notice the sudden pulsing of a rusted sword that was propped against the wall. The Tetsusaiga had found its master and was ready for a fight.

****

=================================

"Kukukukuku" Naraku chuckled as he played with the shards in his possession. " It is time…"

A shadow fell upon his form and he smiled. " Kohaku, prepare the army. We shall go into battle soon."

A small boy, about ten to twelve of age came behind the shoji screen. His black hair hung and covered his emotionless eyes.

" Yes, Naraku-sama."

Naraku chuckled as the boy left. " United they stand," he said as he fingered a wooden doll. Taking one of his hair, he wrapped it around the doll, watching as it formed into a complete replica of himself. " Divided, they die."

The Naraku replica began to walk towards the exit. Placing a baboon pelt around himself, he went towards the Western lands.

" Soon, I shall have the Shikon and I shall be the most powerful youkai. None will say otherwise."

==================================================

****

Author's Note: Well? A bit fast? I know… I just lost my writer's block and began to write… I was so stoked and then… well I figured it might not be 'A' material… but it gets my point across…


	27. author's note

Okay, really sorry about this: but I am going to have to postpone all my updating until after nid-june. Exams are almost here and I have nothing to do but study and hope to ace the exams.  
  
So sorry about that, but don't worry! Once I'm done exams or when I have time I might update once in a while. Chapter 28 or 27 is going to be up soon, so hopefully that will be enough for now.   
  
Thank you for all your reviews and I hope you continue to read my story once I'm done exams! Thanks for all the support, once again!  
  
Yours Truly,  
  
Lady Destiny 


	28. Kidnapped!

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: It's so good to be back! Exams were harsh and dull! And summer is finally here! So much typing to do! Truthfully, this chapter was made while I studied for exams… you know like a little break from reality, so it was really just lying there in ff.net collecting cyber-dust until mid June.

===============================

Kagome stretched her sore muscles and sat on the large mattress. Lately, SesshouMaru had been edgy and strict with her training, as if he was expecting things to happen soon. 

'I guess it's the instinct that drives him to…' she thought as she combed through her long hair. 

She lazily traced patterns on the mattress and hoped that SesshouMaru would be finished with his patrolling. She examined her claws and smiled, she'd gotten used to her youkai side and loved it. She now knew what was so important to InuYasha. 

Suddenly, she got a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach. As if her instincts were telling her something was wrong.

The doors opened and SesshouMaru came inside. He strode towards Kagome and smiled, wrapping his well-toned arm around her.

' Wait… arm?' she panicked as she noted that the youkai only had one arm. She slowly backed away from the silent youkai.

" Who are you?" she snarled, fear and her instincts taking over.

"kukukukuku… forgotten me already, have you?" it cackled.

"No! NO!"

Kagome frantically scrambled out of his reaches, but it was too late. All she saw was a sea of darkness as he rendered her immobile and blew powder in her face.

===========================================

InuYasha barely heard the 'thump' in SesshouMaru's chamber, since he and Mariko were training. Without the Tetsusaiga in his arms, he would never be able to control his rage.

"What was that?" he asked the neko.

She twitched her ears and sniffed the air.

"Something is not right," she said slowly. " I smell SesshouMaru-sama… but there's something different about him… something… "

"-Naraku" InuYasha growled. "That was what Naraku had smelled like when he took Kikyou's form…"

Mariko gasped. "Kagome!"

They flew up the stairs and opened the doors to his chambers cautiously, they did not find Kagome in the room. 

" InuYasha? Where's Okasan?" Shippou asked as he poked his head out the door. "I was yelling for her, but she didn't come…"

" I have to find SesshouMaru!" InuYasha said as he gritted his teeth. He loved Kagome, he owed her his life… and he would not lose her to Naraku!

Shippou climbed into Mariko's arms as she gently rocked him back to sleep. 'Find him soon InuYasha… '

===========================================

SesshouMaru sensed his half-brother's presence and wondered what was wrong. Something at the back of his head had told him that something was indeed amiss.

" SesshouMaru!" InuYasha yelled. "Naraku has Kagome!"

SesshouMaru felt his knees go weak. 'No' His irises went red and he unconsciously transformed into a large white dog with crushing fangs.

He sniffed the air and began to search for his mate. He vowed to kill Naraku and make sure that nothing of his remained.

" Take Okasan and the kits. Go back to the North-West," SesshouMaru growled. " Naraku will not be easy to beat!"

InuYasha nodded. " But we have to hurry!" 

" Without a plan, we may as well just hand him whatever else he needs!" SesshouMaru said through clenched jaws. " Check to make sure if nothing else or no-one else was taken!"

======================================

Kagome woke up in a dark, humid cell with her arms chained to the wall. Her throat felt dry and her lips were cracked.

" I'm glad to see you're awake," said a low masculine voice.

She turned towards the source of the voice and found herself staring at pools of pure sapphire. Naraku had long wavy black hair, and a posture that a stick would be proud of.

She glared at him as he squatted before her, holding out a ladle of water.

" You've been out for quite some time," he said, as he forced the water down her throat.

Kagome stayed silent. Though she was thankful for the water, she hated the man that condemned two people to a horrible fate.

Naraku stayed there, watching her. Waiting for some kind of a response, one in which Kagome would not give. He smiled at her rebellion, and reached to touch her cheek. Kagome flinched away and didn't bother to look in his direction.

" You will learn to cooperate, Kagome," Naraku sneered. " Once the jewel is completed, the keeper shall have to give me a wish!"

Kagome stared at the west wall, but became curious. She hesitantly turned her head and made eye contact with Naraku. " What does that have to do with me?"

Naraku stared at her wide-eyed and unbelieving. " You have no clue? Were you not told?"

"Of what?" she asked.

" You are the keeper of the Shikon no Tama. The one chosen by Midoriko herself."

=========================================

****

Author's Note: mwahahahahahah! Its good to be back! A bit shorter than before tho… but that's okay. I just forgot what I was going to write all those weeks back. It'll get longer once I get to the last two or three chapters.


	29. The Batte: Part 1

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hey all! I'm back, sorry about the delay, I had… still have a bad case of writer's block. It always seems to come during the last chapters… I don't really know how to end a story… *sigh* v_v

=====================================

Naraku could hardly believe his luck. The one chosen to keep the Shikon no Tama, was not informed of whom she was to become. 

'Thus makes my part all the easier' he thought.

" I was… Midoriko?" Kagome asked, her brain not functioning properly after hearing the name 'Midoriko' and the word 'chosen' in the same sentence.

" No, dear child… you are the gift from her to me… to finally become powerful," Naraku said breathlessly.

Kagome blinked numerous times and tried to make herself comfortable, regardless of the chains that held her against the damp wall.

" Just how do I fit into this?" Kagome asked, playing innocent. 'The more I know of his plan, the more I can think of some way to stop it!'

Naraku, believing he had already won, smiled gleefully and began to tell Kagome of his plans. Once he pieces the jewel together, he would 'train' her to be accustomed to the powers that she held inside her. He would then make his 'wish' to have its limitless powers.

' Disgusting, greedy…' Kagome babbled mentally as he began to gloat of how powerful he will become.

" And… what if you were stopped?" Kagome asked.

Silence filled the chamber and Kagome felt a horrendous chill run down her spine. Naraku's aura had just gotten more hate-filled than ever. 

" **I will NOT be stopped**!" he roared angrily, his eyes turning red with fury.

Kagome steeled herself for the blow that she expected was to come. But, nothing happened. She opened her eyes and found herself alone.

'SesshouMaru, please come soon…' she thought. ' I don't think I'm strong enough to hold on much longer'

Kagome was being bombarded with Naraku's miasma as soon as she had regained consciousness. She knew it was a ploy for Naraku to break her, make her drop her guard and allow him to have full access to her powers.

===========================================

SesshouMaru sat patiently, waiting for Lord Komashiro to arrive. He knew Naraku was a powerful enemy and he would need all the help he could get. 

Suddenly, he heard a sudden plea for him to come soon. He gritted his teeth, drawing blood as his fangs punctured the skin of his lips.

"What? What is it?" InuYasha asked.

" It's the link!" Mariko exclaimed gleefully.

They had forgotten about the link that mates had. SesshouMaru cursed at himself for being so stupid. He could find her through the link.

" Quiet!" SesshouMaru said.

' Kagome?'

There was nothing. He clenched his fists and tried again. Then, there was a faint voice calling back. The link between mates were strong, and if he had to try twice only to get a small reception from her… wherever she was had to be fused with strong powers.

' Sesshou?'

'koi, how are you faring?' he asked, feeling a lump in his throat.

SesshouMaru would have laughed at how the youkai was making him feel, but he didn't. He knew that he cared. He loved Kagome, and would do anything to get her back.

' He's- he's not here for the moment… but… I'm so tired… '

'Kagome!'

Sesshoumaru couldn't wait any longer. He stood up and faced InuYasha, his expression serious and angry.

" I cannot wait any longer. Houshi, you and the exterminator wait for Lord Komashiro's troops. Okasan, you stay here with the kits," SesshouMaru began, facing them as he calmly gave them their orders. " Kouga, InuYasha, we're leaving for the North-West."

" Why there?" Kouga asked.

" There is a tiny piece of land that is neither the property of Lord Komashiro's nor mine. It is owned by a ningen. I have my suspicions that Naraku has possessed the ningen and taken over the property," SesshouMaru said, walking quickly towards the entrance of his castle.

" SesshouMaru-sama! SesshouMaru-sama! What of me?" Jaken croaked, running for his master.

" Stay with Okasan, keep her and the kits safe," he replied tonelessly. " If anything is to happen to us, return to the North-Western lands."

==========================================

Kagome hoped they would arrive soon. She hadn't spent more than three hours or so awake, but she felt as if she had been tortured mercilessly for days. Her body throbbed in pain as she shifted her weight. As she closed her eyes, she felt Naraku's miasma doubling their efforts to keep her conscious.

Without warning, a white light erupted and Kagome was left standing in a field of beautiful flowers. Standing in the middle of the field was Midoriko herself.

" Kagome, I had planned your last lesson would turn out differently. Sadly, you have to learn to control the power inside you before Naraku tries to," the older woman said. " A great battle will ensue… and I'm afraid there will be some casualties…"

Kagome looked at her curiously and lowered her head. " Will… will I survive through this battle?"

Midoriko nodded and Kagome sighed. " Yes, although, SesshouMaru…"

Kagome paled and shook her head in denial. Midoriko tried to calm her down, but the tears would not stop flowing. Her body was glowing a bright blue, and she began to levitate. Her body started to transform into a great black dog.

Midoriko smiled. " Kagome, you did it!"

Kagome suddenly felt lightheaded. She sat on her hind legs and laid her head on her front paws. As her sorrow diminished slightly, she returned back to her ningen-like form.

" I did what?" she asked sadly. 

" The last lesson… to free yourself…" Midoriko said sadly. " Now you are ready-"

"Can I save him?" Kagome asked, her voice hoarse. 

" That… is up to you."

" H-how was I chosen?" Kagome asked slowly.

" Very carefully," Midoriko joked. " You were the one, Kagome. Do not doubt or ask why."

She nodded and thanked Midoriko before she willed herself to wake up.

Kagome opened her eyes and looked around the dungeon. She knew what she needed to do. Using the powers she had just become comfortable with, she broke free of the chains and barely even felt the miasma around her.

The shield she had made for herself had begun purifying the miasma as she walked through the halls. She needed to find the shards. She would not see SesshouMaru die. 

'SesshouMaru… please be careful'

=========================================

Naraku cursed as he ran towards the dungeons. He had felt SesshouMaru and InuYasha coming from the West. He would not just hand his precious 'gift' when he was so close to getting what he wanted.

' Broken in or not, I need her to tap into the Shikon!'

He growled as he opened the chamber doors, to find an empty dungeon. Looking around, he noticed the aura trailing down the hallway.

" The Shikon!"

He flew towards his chambers to find nothing misplaced. Grinning, he took the shards and placed them in his robes. Surely, Kagome was still in the vicinity. 

He was unaware of Kagome hiding in the shadows of his chamber, sending him a powerful illusion. She clutched the Shikon shards in her hands and waited until Naraku was gone. Powerful as she may be, she did not know the limits of her powers. Naraku was strong, and she had no clue if she could defeat him by herself… in his territory.

As he left, she searched for a window. Looking out, she saw SesshouMaru's dog form in the horizon.

" Though you could fool the great Naraku?!"

Kagome gasped as she felt Naraku's aura clasping her by the throat. She felt herself being lifted and losing oxygen. She glowed a faint blue and surprised Naraku by purifying the aura and freeing herself.

" Impressive," Naraku said, his eyes full of lust. " I would not have thought of you otherwise."

=========================================

****

Author's Note: Its almost over! Its almost over! Nooooo! T-T oh well…

****


	30. The Battle: Part 2

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: Hey all! Sorry for the delay, I've been in the country and we don't have internet connection there… since we just bought the place. It's so quiet, and it goes so well with the whole 'meadow' part of my story! ^-^

======================================

SesshouMaru seethed as he felt Kagome's fear pierce through him like a spear. He felt every emotion and every sensation that Kagome was feeling at that moment. Feeling proud that Kagome never gave up, even through her fear, he himself worried for her safety. 

'That's it koi, just keep it up, I'll be there soon' he said through their link.

On the receiving end, Kagome was surprised at first, but soon smiled and felt safer. She somehow hoped Naraku hadn't noticed, unfortunately for her… he did.

"So, SesshouMaru-**sama** and his so called 'brother' are coming, are they?" Naraku taunted. " We'll see about that"

'Come soon, Sesshou' Kagome thought as she dodged more of his cheap tricks. 'I don't know how much longer I can tolerate his Miasma'

====================================

Meanwhile, InuYasha sensed a horde of youkais gathering in the skies, slowly moving towards them. They were of various sizes, shapes and levels. Most were relatives of past enemies both InuYasha and SesshouMaru fought.

'So, he's hiding behind revengeful youkais, huh?' InuYasha thought.

" Naraku's called in reinforcements!" he yelled, disgusted at Naraku for hiding behind youkais of lesser power.

"Looks like we've got some of our own!" Kouga said as he saw a pack of wolves and Inu youkais in the distance.

Led by Miroku and Sango who were riding on Kirara; Mariko, in her controlled youkai form, flew behind keeping the army straight and ready for action. 

" Come on then!" InuYasha said impatiently, half worried for Kagome, half-ready to rip out Naraku's head.

Kouga pulled him back by his collar and slowly shook his head. He faced SesshouMaru and let InuYasha go. 

" What now?" he asked, and slightly ticked InuYasha off.

" They are not about to attack," SesshouMaru observed. " They're sizing us up."

"…So if we attack first," Kouga said hesitantly. "They will just send more?"

"Hn," SesshouMaru nodded.

As Miroku, Sango and Mariko arrived with the army, they stood, no more than 60 feet away from the horde. Sango nearly broke into tears as she saw her village emblem being worn by one of the insect youkai, and nearly fell as she finally saw the person leading the horde into battle.

" Kohaku…" she cried softly, her voice cracking up. Her own flesh and blood, her beloved younger brother had been 'saved' by Naraku by implanting a shard on his back. Kagome had long ago told her that she was going to postpone retrieving the shard to keep him alive just until she could figure our a way to take it without him dying.

Sango turned away and wept into Miroku's arm. She had not expected, well, yes did expect to see Kohaku during the battle, but she had not expected him to lead it.

'Either way…' she thought sadly. 'One of us is going to die'

That thought saddened her deeply, and not even knowing that she would die anyway did not make the pain any less painful.

' It'll be swift and painless…' she thought. " Kami-sama bless and watch over you."

=========================================

SesshouMaru fingered the Tetsusaiga sheathed on his hip. It was pulsing softly as if knowing his master's beloved was in danger. He watched as the little ningen eyed him and grew weary. Kohaku raised his arm and jerked it down. The horde behind him seized at the army and the battle began.

Keeping the army at bay, SesshouMaru waited for the right moment to start. As the horde came closer, he started a countdown. '5…4…3…2…'

With lightning fast reflexes, he unsheathed the Tetsusaiga, revealing a large 7' long fang. It's aura penetrated through the horde and obliterated most of the front line, leaving nothing but decaying corpses. The army behind him charged at the remaining hundred dozen.

InuYasha was busy helping Mariko, while Miroku began to vacuum the smaller youkais along with larger ones. He had to stop and combat them hand to hand once Naraku's wasps began to attack. He had come prepared and he knew who to ask for help. Sango stood five feet away from her brother, tears streaming down her face.

"Kohaku…" She said softly. " If you can hear me… Gomen Na sai"

Suddenly, the boy's face contorted with pain, as if he was battling his way to the surface. His eyes transformed from the dark lifeless shells to bright violet.

" Onee…san… please…." He sobbed. " I won't have control much longer!"

With that, Sango choked, sobbing as he brother smiled serenely and gratefully. He fell limply to the ground, whispering comforting words.

" Thank you"

" Kohaku…"

========================================

SesshouMaru continued to fight his way through the youkais with a combination of his venomous claws and the Tetsusaiga's cutting wind, oblivious to the kind of dangers Kagome was in.

Kagome was continuing to defend herself from Naraku's miasma, as she began to recall Midoriko's words. She was to be even stronger the holy woman herself. 

'How is that possible?' she wondered. ' I can barely defend myself from Naraku'

As she thought of the situation with more depth, she began to worry and doubt herself. ' Is it possible that Midoriko made a mistake?'

She was holding up just fine, but the certainties weren't that clear. She had no clue how long she would stay 'just fine'. Doubt and fear soon took over her mind, two deadly ingredients and one extremely hopeless combination.

Naraku felt her doubt and decided to use it to his advantage. He began to feed her doubts with mental images of her in failing situations.

*What if? * He taunted softly, hiding his voice in the background of her mind. *What if Midoriko only **thought** you were strong enough? *

*What if… you can't handle the power? *

*End up killing everyone you love? *

Slowly, Kagome began to lower her shields, her ears only hearing Naraku's taunting and her mind filled with pictures of her friends, dying or dead.

==========================================

SesshouMaru felt Kagome's defenses weakening and his heart clenched with worry. He fought his way through the horde, towards the small palace in the distance.

As he entered the structure, he had to admit that Naraku had possessed a man with good taste. Bonsai grew everywhere, covering empty spots not taken by Sakura trees and various colorful flowers and aromatic herbs. It had reminded him of home, once it was still under the care of Lady Yumemaru.

" I see Naraku was right about your arrival," said a familiar feminine voice.

Turning around, SesshouMaru was greeted with a face from the past. Dark long hair and uncaring eyes faced him, reminding him of the reason why he and InuYasha had been feuding for the past century or two.

"Leiko," SesshouMaru spat out, as if he tasted bitter herbs. "What an unpleasant surprise."

The woman glided towards him, a scowl on her china-doll ivory face. 

"I'm flattered you remember your dear Mother."

SesshouMaru watched her cautiously, slowly circling around as she moved.

" I thought I had banished you out of the Western lands," he said smoothly.

" You did, and last time I checked," she said as she looked around. " This little land belonged to my husband, the Late lord, now Naraku."

" So you know about your 'husband' being possessed," SesshouMaru stated, not surprised to know that Leiko reveled in the fact that Naraku took over the ningen.

" I was right to throw you out," SesshouMaru sneered. " You are nothing but bad news."

"Thank you." Leiko said smiling.

She took one of the rakes used to design the gravel and took to offensive stance. SesshouMaru stood calmly, waiting for her attack.

" You think you're all that, SesshouMaru? Think again!" she screeched.

Unknown to either of them, InuYasha stood by the doorway, his mouth agape, and his sight never leaving Leiko.

" Did you ever think of InuYasha's welfare during your plan to take over the Western Lands?" Sesshoumaru asked. " It's the law for me to shun him, since he was your son!"

" My son?! Do not jest!" she said disgustedly. " Of course I did not think of him! I consider hanyous an abomination! All things ningen are disgusting, even my outward appearance!" 

"So why even have me?" 

Leiko turned around and blinked. She scoffed and walked towards him. Smiling, she replied," I needed a brat to tell InuTaisho that it was his."

InuYasha didn't bother to turn to SesshouMaru. His gaze never left Leiko. " Go to Kagome."

" I'll take care of Leiko."

" Are you positive? She is-" 

" No, whatever memory I had of Okasan, it was always Lady Yumemaru. This is just a revengeful onna without a heart."

Leiko began to attack, and SesshouMaru nodded, flying towards the inner sanctum of the palace, leaving InuYasha to learn the truth of his past.

======================================

Kagome found herself in a garden in the middle of the palace. The Southern Wing of the palace, unseen by the battle up front were in shambles.

"What am I doing here?" she wondered out loud.

"Waiting for the battle to cease. I cannot have a completed jewel without my general." Naraku said, as he came out of the shadows.

" Kohaku," Kagome whispered.

Naraku nodded and sat beside her. Kagome tried to flinch but she found herself immobilized and extremely lightheaded.

" The strangeness will pass soon. Once the jewel is whole again…" he started, then looking up, he narrowed his eyes. " SesshouMaru"

He sprung to his feet and held Kagome's body in his arms, a blade in hand.

" One false step, and I shall have her pretty neck sliced," Naraku threatened. " You, of all people know I would."

To prove his point, he cut a superficial wound in Kagome's neck. Enough to draw blood, but not enough to cause any harm.

SesshouMaru blinded with worry and fear for Kagome, he calmly and emotionlessly stopped moving.

" Put the Tetsusaiga down"

SesshouMaru complied, gritting his teeth. Naraku smirked arrogantly as he trapped SesshouMaru in a ball of his miasma and let Kagome fall to the ground. " Such weaknesses you lords have. Goodbye" 

Kagome felt helpless as she heard his last words. " Aishiteru, Kagome"

__

SesshouMaru may die

" NO!"

A bright light encased her body and she began to levitate from the ground. Her immobility gone. The battle stopped as both the horde and the army stopped to stare at the light protruding from the ground towards the sky. Some of the youkais in the horde, close to the palace were boiling form the inside out.

'Kami-sama! It's Kagome!' Kouga thought proudly.

As the light diminished, half of the horde was left weakened, and Kagome stood proudly between Naraku and SesshouMaru, dressed in armor similar to SesshouMaru's. Her hair was half up in an elegant bun, while the other was flowing loosely towards her waist.

Kagome opened her eyes and revealed her beautiful silvery-blue eyes. She lifted her arms, and to Naraku's surprise, the shards of the Shikon began to glow from his haori and flew towards her open palm.

Sango, who was on the verge of burying her brother, screamed in surprise as he floated towards the palace. Kouga, Miroku and Mariko followed in pursuit as she ran screaming for Kohaku to stop.

InuYasha, who had just ripped Leiko to shreds found her face flickering, and finally return to being an empty shell, like Kikyou. A miniscule part of the jewel, on a green brooch began to fly towards the shattered part of the palace.

"What the hell?" he asked as he followed the brooch towards the gardens.

=======================================================

The group stared in awe as Kagome pieced the jewel together, purifying the whole thing. The jewel glowed a healthy shade of light pink and began to hum. 

Kagome closed her eyes and concentrated.

'Come on…' she thought. ' Do it for Mama, for Souta! For Ojisan! InuYasha! Yumemaru, Okasan, Otousan, Kouga! Shippou, Rin, Miroku, Sango, Mariko! Do it for Sesshou! Keep him alive!'

Her transformation froze Naraku in place as he realized the depth of his situation. A large black and white Inu replaced Kagome as the purplish light faded, the Shikon in its mouth. With a flick of her neck, she swallowed the jewel whole.

SesshouMaru stood in place watching Kagome proudly. InuYasha took Mariko to safety and shielded her body with his. Sango and Miroku took shelter behind one of the pillars as Kagome unleashed a purifying wave of lavender colored light. 

The army found themselves stopping in surprise as the horde they were fighting suddenly disintegrated leaving nothing but ashes that were cleaned away by the soft breeze.

Kouga and the rest of the group opened their eyes and found themselves in top condition.

" Where's Kagome?" Kouga asked.

" And SesshouMaru!" InuYasha asked in worry.

They both noticed the large pile of ashes and a small piece of gauze. InuYasha bowed his head and hoped that SesshouMaru was somewhere close by.

"Let's go look for them!" Mariko said. " Its not like SesshouMaru to just run off! Even if it is with his mate!"

==============================================

SesshouMaru opened his eyes and found himself in a large flowering meadow.

" Ohayo, SesshouMaru"

He turned around and found himself staring at Midoriko. He stood there, speechless as she smiled at him.

" What am I doing-"

"Kagome has unleashed her powers." Midoriko said proudly, but sadly. " I knew I chose right, but I'm afraid she granted one too many wishes."

SesshouMaru stared at the holy woman, still in shock. 

" She is far to generous," SesshouMaru said finally. " But I love her none the less."

Midoriko smiled sadly. " She… doesn't have enough energy to nurse herself back to health."

SesshouMaru blinked. "No… she's strong… she can"

"Even the most strongest person cannot escape death," she explained. " Her decision was made with love. She chose your life over hers."

SesshouMaru closed his eyes and felt tears streaming down his face. He hadn't cried in decades, but he knew why. He hadn't loved in decades.

"Can… can I save her?" he asked.

" Do you love her enough to?" Midoriko asked.

" More than she can ever know," he whispered. " I'll do anything, if I can just have her back…"

Midoriko smiled softly. "So find her."

=========================================

Once the woman had left, SesshouMaru began to search every corner of Kagome's mind to find her Sanctuary. He thought of the first place that she had shown him and went to the shrine, only to find an empty building with still figures.

He rested his head on the Goshinboku tree, and felt himself crying once more. 

' Please, Kagome… I don't want to lose you'

He closed his eyes and heard water. As he opened his eyes, he smiled seeing the gardens of his castle. Turning around, he knew where to find his beloved.

Inside the cave, laying over the skins was Kagome. Her hair was tangled, just like the first time they had spent the night together in his sanctuary.

'No…' he thought. 'Our sanctuary'

He knelt down beside her and laid next to her, draping his arms around her lithe figure. She opened her eyes and smiled as she found herself in her lover's arms.

" How-" Kagome was suddenly cut off as SesshouMaru kissed her deeply.

" Aishiteru, now and forever, Kagome." He whispered. "I will never let you go"

=========================================

"I found them! " InuYasha yelled. "Ew, SesshouMaru! You're in **somone else's** caslte! At least wait until you're at your own!"

==========================================

****

Author's Note : Lol! There's one more chapter, then you can say yay!


	31. Tying Up the Loose Ends

****

Sanctuary

Author's Note: ^-^ Thank you! You will get your moment of fame! It's finally done!

=================================

__

After all that fighting, Naraku was defeated. Everyone received their wish and those souls he had condemned were set free. InuYasha and the group soon found out that Leiko's body was dead way before Naraku had possessed the ningen lord, but her personal belongings were still there. The brooch that Naraku had given her soul was imbedded with a tiny sliver of the jewel. Somehow, he had sensed her evilness and lusted for it, so with the right clay body… the perfect wife!

As for Kohaku, since the jewel was repaired, Sango had unconsciously wished for her little brother. After Naraku had died, those he killed were brought back to get a second chance at life. Sango's whole village was restored.

Miroku's air rip was fixed, and we soon found that his lechery was not the effect of the rip itself, but of his heritage. But, he got to asking Sango to marry him and they had three kids, all female, thank Kami!

InuYasha finally found his happiness, still a hanyou but happy with Mariko. They settled down and lived with us in the Western lands. They had two kits. Both male. That was a handful, plus Mariko still helps InuYasha with his control. Sometimes, I think it's just an excuse!

As for Shippou, well, in youkai age, he's now a teenager. Still a handful, but he's so cute trying to woo this pretty vixen. SesshouMaru is trying to aid him in that area, but I think they both need more held than just that…

As for Rin, I was so shocked to find that she married a nice young ningen named Higurashi Ryu. She and Ryu had many kids, one of which was Ojisan! I found as time went by that youkais decided to lay low once the Americans invaded and wars came. They had no intention of butting into ningen affairs.

Since I had turned eighteen, the spell that InuTaisho had cast was broken. The future depended on how the final battle had turned out, and since I defeated Naraku and I still hold the jewel in me, Kagome Higurashi was never 'born' or found. I watched as my great great- great- great- grandson, Souta grew up to be an older brother to a little girl that they named Kikyou in memory of the one Naraku had fallen in love with.

As for me, well Sesshou and I had two kits. One female, one male. Shippou was extremely happy to be an older brother. We named the female Rei, in memory of Okasan. The male, well we named him InuTaisho in memory of SesshouMaru's Otousan.

As for Lord Komashiro, he lives with Kouga, who is now mated. So cute! Lady Yumemaru watches over them all. She says SesshouMaru has all the help he needs.

============================================

" Are you ready?"

Kagome faced her husband and smiled. Five hundred years ago, today was the day they had defeated Naraku, and it was five hundred years ago that she made her wish.

" As ready as I will ever be." Kagome said happily.

" Come on then, we wouldn't want to miss out on Souta's wedding," SesshouMaru said lovingly.

Kagome nodded and placed her book down. 

" I'm glad things turned out well," Kagome said happily.

" I'm just glad I found you," SesshouMaru replied, smiling at his wife. " I will never let you go."

==============================================

__

Things turned out for the best. The future was bright and sunny. Kagome and SesshouMaru were together for eternity, watching over their loved ones, keeping the balance between good and evil.

==============================================

****

Author's Note: short and corny! But it explained a lot! Sorry, no sequels, it's way to hard on my brain! But I have another story coming up, and I'm thinking of making it a SesshouMaru/Kagome again. I just gave up on InuYasha. I might screw it up… so yeah. 

Stay tuned for my next fic! ^-^ Aren't I cruel? Anyway, I'll update the credits tomorrow… there's way too many for me to type up now.


End file.
